Formal Analysis of Guernica

Figure 1. Guernica (1937) by Pablo Picasso Formal Analysis Guernica : Guernica (Figure 1), an oil-on-canvas mural, stands 11 feet tall by 25.6 feet wide and hangs at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain. The painting is speculated as being a response to the bombing of Guernica, Spain by Nazi Germany. However, when asked to describe the mural, Picasso replied, “It isn’t up to the painter to define the symbols… [The public] must interpret the symbols as they understand them” The piece depicts a muddled collection of figures, including: the light bulb, the wailing horse, the bull, a mother holding her dead child, and the dead soldier. Although difficult to appreciate from a computer screen, much of the impact that this piece has stems from its overwhelming size. The massive mural seems to envelop the observer, forcing them to confront the larger than life figures that emerge. The sheer size of the work suggests that the artist attempted to highlight or broadcast a point by inflating the images he chose to include in the painting. The style of Guernica is similar to the artist’s earlier works. The shape of bodies and other figures are distorted and abstracted in an effort to achieve a sense of reality without explicitly representing it. Similarly, the spacing of images throughout the piece is ambiguous and somewhat chaotic; as a result, it is difficult to discriminate between images due to their overlap and intersection. Through ambiguity, the artist is able to make references or present ideas in a non-specific fashion. This allows for the timelessness of a piece; its interpretation is dependent on the observer’s current state of mind, not the artist’s. Furthermore, Picasso chose to leave Guernica absent of color, painting it in a monochromatic palette of black and white. The values of black and white are varied which serves to intensify the drama of the work. The painting is approximately symmetrical wherein figures on either side of the piece occupy roughly equivalent space. Although these figures seem to be chaotically jumbled together, there is in fact an overriding visual order. Two vertical lines separate the piece into three visual groupings, while figures at the center are organized into a large triangle of light which can be drawn from the seemingly eye-like light bulb at the top of the painting. It can be inferred that the artist intended to metaphorically illuminate images or ideas presented in the painting by literally depicting a light bulb shining on certain figures through contrast. This contrast between black and white hues unifies and intensifies the drama of the piece: depicting the metaphorical darkness that surrounds each figure. Importance as well as emphasis of certain images are illustrated through Picasso’s use of proportion. For example, the images of the horse and the bull are large and in the forefront of the painting. The bull is thought to represent danger and the stampede of fascism across Europe. Its importance is demonstrated through its size in the painting. It is also the only image in the mural that does not seem to be suffering, indicating the steady growth of fascism. The horse, on the other hand, is thought to be an animal associated with the Spanish people (stchristophers.com). It is wailing and in apparent agony, indicating that it is on the verge of its death. The horse is representative of the feelings that the Spanish people had during the early stages of WWII. The size, location, and illumination of the image by the light bulb, indicate the importance of the horse image which serves as the focal point of the piece.