Pablo Picasso painted Guernica in 1937 to depict the horror of the bombing of Guernica, Spain by German warplanes. The painting uses only black, white and grey to express the pain and chaos caused by the bombing through images of a bull, horse, and grieving women and children. It hangs in the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid.
2. This is Pablo Picasso’s famous painting
“Guernica”.Picasso painted this mural in 1937
right after German warplanes bombed the small
town of Guernica in Spain on Monday 26 April
1937. The painting expresses the horror of war
and its destructive effects especially on
innocent women and children.
3.
4. Factfile:
Artist : Pablo Picasso
Year : 1937
Type : Oil on canvas
Dimensions : 349cm x 776 cm
Location : Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
9. Watch this video about
the history of the painting
https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=PUK8BAoWe-s
10. Look at the painting very carefully and then complete the gaps in the following
sentences with the following words to get a precise description of the mural :
on the left- on the right- at the top- at the bottom- in the middle - in the top left-hand
corner - under - right.
Exercise:
11. ………………………………………. a bull stands over a woman grieving over a dead child in
her arms.
………………………………………….. a horse falls in agony as it has just been hit by a spear.
…………………………………….. the horse appears a bull. The horse’s front leg forms the bull’s
head. The horse’s leg’s knee cap, which is on the ground , forms the bull’s nose.
……………………………………… the bull’s tail forms the image of a flame with smoke rising
from it.
…………………………………….. of the painting, …………………. the horse is a dead soldier.
His hand still holds a shattered sword from which a flower grows.
……………………………………….. of the mural a light bulb blazes in the shape of an evil eye
over the horse’s head.
The overall scene is inside a room. The artist used only black, white and grey to express
the pain and chaos caused by the bombing.
12. ……………………………………….. of the horse a woman witnessing the scenes before her
appears to float into the room through a window. Her arm floating through the window as
well carries a lamp
…………………………………………. , another woman goes towards the centre ,
………………………… the floating woman. She looks up into the blazing light.
……………………………………….. a figure with arms raised in terror is entrapped by fire from
above and below.
…………………………………………., between the bull and the horse drawn on the wall is a
dove holding an olive branch. A dark wall with an open door defines the ………………………
end of the mural.
