The Humanities and Criticism Describe, Analyze, Evaluate Francisco Goya’s May 3, 1808 [HTTA, page 22]. Description: The painting features a significant contrast in color - the left side features more brightness/white coloring compared to the right side of the picture. The right side uses dark shading and dark colors in general. The men’s guns are straight and makes our eyes look straight to the man holding his arms up, which could have been done for a reason, to focus our eyes on him (he is the main subject in this piece). Analysis: Francisco Goya’s painting was done after soldiers executed the Spanish guerrillas; the victims’ faces are revealed but not the shooters. The meaning behind this work of art shows how horrified the Spanish were; Goya chooses the most terrifying moment which is right before the triggers was pulled. The soldiers had no mercy whatsoever considering bodies were already on the floor. Evaluation: Personally, I feel that Goya wanted me (and other viewers) to feel their pain, and also he wanted the enemies themselves to see what they did to innocent people. The man in the middle with him arms out has a face that calls for hope and forgiveness, but the soldiers will clearly not give it to him. I like this piece because there is so much emotion coming from it; it is not a painting I’d hang in my room but it has my respect. Before completing the second portion of this assignment, be sure you have experienced the Simon Schama documentary on Picasso from the series The Power of Art to gain the historical and aesthetic context of his art in the creation of Guernica. What is your initial reaction to the Picasso’s first sketch in May 1937 [above] for Guernica? My initial reaction of Picasso’s Guernica in his first sketch was complete chaos. It was not pretty at all, it was terrifying. There were humans but they were disarranged; body parts were everywhere expect on their bodies. In addition, there was a bull in the middle of the sketch that looks like it was ready to attack; its eyes are on a target and it is waiting for someone to say go. Fires are in the unassembled room and it is just a whole mess; it honestly looks like the end for everyone in the picture. In watching the film Picasso, identify three ways Picasso obliterates the conventions of art. 1) Picasso defied modern art. Rather than using perfect symmetry or mathematical beauty, his work was all over the place. He truly painted the modern world’s nightmare: there was burning and screaming with no way out. 2) The film mentions that Picasso “pulls us back to tragedy of ages in the cubist commotion.” With that being said, he used cubism even though it was not liked. 3) Women were usually shown as beautiful and admirable, but in his case, he depicts them yelling and in pain. Their bodies aren’t the norm in the world of art. Who/what are the major influences on Picasso as he creates Guernica? The major influences on Picasso creating Guernica were the Germans and the townspeople of Guernica. This whole piece is about the Germans dropping bombs on their town during the Spanish Civil War. He painted this picture as if it happened in the night, but it was actually in the afternoon. He is telling the story of those who put Spain in pain and making them feel what they did but worse. How does symbolism play an important role in Guernica? What symbolic imagery does Picasso employ in Guernica? Symbolism plays an important role in Guernica. First of all, his sketch started off as showing signs of hope, but when he painted the actual one on canvas, all signs disappeared. The symbols of redemption in the sketch turned into weak, punctured hands instead. The punctured hands symbolized the stigmata on the hands of the Christ. In addition, the evil eye/light bulb represents the search light of the bomber targeting them, which they were afraid of.
