Guernica

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Guernica

1937

by Pablo Picasso

Guernica is one of the most famous paintings by Pablo Picasso, depicting the consequences of the bombing of Guernica. Picasso, commissioned by the Spanish Republican government to paint a picture to decorate the Spanish Pavilion during the Paris International Exposition (the 1937 World's Fair in Paris), created this massive (3.49 metres x 7.76 metres) Cubist work.

The painting depicts people, animals, and buildings wrenched by the violence and chaos of the carpet-bombing, as well as the outline of a skull formed by various objects. This large canvas embodies for many the inhumanity, brutality and hopelessness of war, and the cruelty of bombing civilians. The choice to paint in black and white without color contrasts the screaming intensity of the scene depicted.

Photo of Guernica on Flickr