Critical Review of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica Pablo Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. Constantly updating and mastering his style, he was known as the pioneer of cubism (“Pablo Picasso Biography”). By his death in 1973, over twenty-two thousand pieces of wok have been documented (“Pablo Picasso and his Paintings”).
The Life of Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso was born in 1881, in Spain. Pablo Picasso, as he known by, was the son of Don José Ruiz Blasco, a painter and art teacher with whom Picasso studied under until he was thirteen years old, when he surpassed his father’s skill. When he was fourteen, his family moved to Barcelona, where he accepted into the city’s school of fine arts, despite the school generally only accepting older students. Two years later, Picasso moved to Madrid to attend the Royal Academy of San Fernando which only lasted two years due to the school’s lack of variety to appeal to Picasso (“Pablo Diego José…”). In 1901, Picasso moved to Paris to open his own studio. He found it to be the ideal place to practice new styles and art forms (“Pablo Picasso Biography”). From that point in his career he began his “Blue Period,” from 1901 to 1904. Depressed and lonely from the death of his close friend, Carlos Casagemas, blues, blacks, and grays dominated his pictures depicting poverty isolation, and anguish. Picasso quickly fell in love with model, Fernande Olivier, and by 1905 he had entered his “Rose Period.” This period was dominated by pinks, beiges, and reds. In 1907, Picasso produced a painting with abstract, distorted, sharp geometric figures. It was the first transition into the movement, Cubism. (“Pablo Diego José…”).
Cubism
Cubism was created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in Paris, 1907 through 1914. It revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature, and architecture. Cubism rejected the concept that art should copy nature and traditional technique. By reducing and fracturing an object into a geometric form at contrasting points, it c emphasized the two-dimensionality of the canvas (Rewaid). The period from 1910 to 1912 is often referred to as “Analytical Cubism.” Right angle and straight-line construction was favored, but some areas of the painting could be more sculptural. A monochromatic color scheme suited the complex views of the object that would overlap itself. Works after 1912 was defined as “Synthetic Cubism.” These paintings showed strong combination of the forms in the picture. The shapes remained fragmented and flat, but with more color. Foreign objects like newspaper and wrappers were added o the canvas to develop a contrast between smooth and rough surfaces (“Cubism”).

Guernica In 1937, Picasso painted Guernica, a political reaction to the Nazi’s devastating bombing of Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. The oil painting, standing eleven feet by twenty-five feet tall, depicts the tragedies and suffering inflicted on the civilians in shades of blue, black, and white. It was received as a monumental anti-war symbol and ultimately an embodiment of peace. Guernica ultimately helped bring the Spanish Civil War to societal attention (“Guernica, 1937…”). In the painting, Picasso combined both “Analytical” and “Synthetic” cubism. It has a consistent theme of tragic death and dying. Emphasis of the physical destruction of the war can be seen in the characteristic distorted eyes, ears, noses, tongues, and feet. Iit was received as the bull representing modern tyranny and the Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco, who collaborated with Hitler and Mussolini. The Horse was interpreted as death of a civilization, though may be rescued by the woman with the lamp symbolizing liberty (Schneider Adams, 486). Picasso, a publicly self-defined pacifist, donated the profits from the series Guernica was featured in to help the Republican movement (“Guernica, 1937…”).
Conclusion
Picasso was a leading artist in the twentieth century who contributed many styles of art, most famously “Cubism”. Before this critical review I had no understanding of Picasso’s styles. It was interesting to find some of his very early, more traditional work in contrast to his more famous abstract paintings. Before this assignment I didn’t quite understand his abnormal abstract ideas and regarded them as so. After researching I am now able to understand the symbolism and representation in his paintings. I am now able to identify his earlier work, “Blue Period,” “Rose Period,” and his cubism. I was fortunately surprised to the depth of the meanings in his paintings, particularly Guernica. I am very interested in political statement art and enjoy interpreting them as well as interpreting the artist’s stance. From this assignment I have learned a great deal of the contributions of Pablo Picasso.

Works Cited
"Cubism." ArtyFactory. ArtyFactory, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
“Guernica, 1937 by Pablo Picasso.” Pablo Picasso. N.p., 2009. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso." Biography.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
'"Pablo Picasso and his Paintings." Pablo Picasso. N.p., 2009. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"Pablo Picasso Biography." Pablo Picasso. N.p., 2009. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Rewaid, Sabine. "Cubism." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Schneider Adams, Laurie. A History of Western Art. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 486. Print.