Pablo Picasso painted Guernica in 1937 in response to the bombing of Guernica, Spain by Nazi German and Italian warplanes at the request of the Spanish Nationalists. The painting depicts the suffering of individuals, especially civilians, from the tragic events of war in a Cubist style using only black, white and grey colors. Through symbolic figures and objects, Picasso represented themes of destruction, death, and despair while also depicting a contrast with symbols of peace and hope. Guernica was an anti-war statement that captured the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War and remains one of Picasso's most famous and powerful works.

1. Guernica

2. Index
• Pablo Picasso´s historical context
• Guernica´s historical context
• Characteristics
• Simbolism

3. Pablo Picasso´s historical
context

4. PABLO
PICASSO
 Birth: On October 25, 1881,
Málaga
 Death: On April 8, 1973
Mougins, France
 Important information:
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish
painter and sculptor, along with
Georges Braque, specialized in
cubism.

5. How he decided to Paint the
“GUERNICA”
Bombing
in
Guernica
&
French
newspaper
Spanish
republican flag

6. Guernica´s historical context

7. Guernica is a town in the
province of Biscay in
Basque Country.
It is Picasso’s reaction
to the Nazi’s bombing
in the town of
Guernica.

8. The Paris exhibition asked
Picasso to do a mural, but
when he knew what happened
he changed his idea about the
mural and did the Guernica
Guernica shows the tragedies of
war and the suffering it inflicts
upon individuals, particularly
innocent civilians

9. Did you know?
Guernica couldn´t be
exposed in Madrid till
the year 1981
Guernica is
Picasso´s
most
universal
painting
Guernica was
finished in 7
weeks

10. Characteristics

11. Characteristics Grey, black and white
colours
Figures organized into
three vertical groups
Cubist style

12. Did you know?
The colours used helped to
reinforce the destruction
and despair that Picasso
tried to express
The grisaille
was a
technique
used in the
colours
Picasso made
45 sketches
of the
painting
The colours
were inspired
in films and
newspapers
of the time

13. Simbolism

14. What can you
see?- A bull
- A woman with her dead baby
- A man on the floor
Did you Know that…
If you go to the museum and
appreciate the head of the bull,
you can see a 3rd eye, this is
because the multiple sketches
that Picasso did during his
painting.

15. Can you hear this woman
screaming?

16. What caught your
attention from this
fragment?- The hole/lamp
- The horse
- The candelabra
- The flower
- The spear stick on the horse
It is amazing that you even
can see science and the
new inventions in this
incredible piece of art,
Picasso thought about
everything!
- The bulb

17. Can you see the horse
moving?

18. Did you see
anything
strange?
- The injured women
- The women with the
long neck
- The women shouting
- The sword
Picasso through his
master piece
represented the perfect
contrast between
destruction, peace and
hope (the sword and
the flower)

19. “I give you my
artwork, you
can interpret it
as you want”