Guernicas History Essay -- Art Paintings Pablo Picasso Guernica Essay

Guernicas HistoryThe word art is an encompassing one, vastly construe and with multiple definitions. In the case of Picassos painting Guernica, art informs, educates and expresses. Its power lies in its ability to capture and compel an audience nearly six decades after the advance(a) worlds other day of infamy. To understand fully the painting that evolved out of the Spanish painters outrage, one must know its context. Why do you think I naming everything I do? Because it is not sufficient to know an artists works--it is also necessary to know when he did them, why, under what circumstances (Picasso). An appreciator who knows the saga of Spains historical fishing village is give a depth of experience that only a genius like Picasso could portray --it may well be the most terrifying document on the horrors of war ever to be produced by an artist (Wertenbaker 126). Most people do not even know that the ancient Basque village Guernica exits, let only when that one third of its citi zens were senselessly slaughtered or wounded in little more than three hours. On April 26, 1937, German bombers attacked Guernica, an open city. The unprovoked attack began at 430, the busiest hour of a market day. The streets were jammed with townspeople and peasants from the countryside. Never before in modern warfare had noncombatants been slaughtered in much(prenominal) numbers, and by such means (Wertenbaker 1967). During the Spanish Civil war Francos army was often assisted by Germany. The Nazi General Goerings policy was to use the Spanish Civil War as an arena for trying out the airmen and planes of his new Luftwaffe . The Condor Legion was headed by Wolfram Von Richthofen, the cousin of the near mythical Red Baron of the First military personnel War. V... ...e bombing of the ancient Basque town would now be almost forgotten. Picassos monumental painting reminds humankind of one of the first acts of modern total war waged against a defenseless population. Picassos painti ng is the quintessential example of humankinds senseless inhumanity to humankind. It creates a horrific image of humankind with which the observer must reckon. Through the art of Guernica Picasso educates us not only about April 26, 1937, but also about humankind and our tradition of war. WORKS CITEDChipp, Herschel, B. Picassos Guernica. Berkeley University of California Press, 1988.Fisch, Eberhard. Guernica. late Cranbury Associated University Press, 1983.Gordan, Thomas and Max Morgan. Guernica The Crucible of WWII. New York Witts, Stein, and Day, 1975.Wertenbaker, Lael. The World of Picasso. New York Time-Life Books, 1967.