Picasso – Guernica Painting
On April 26th 1937, a massive air raid by the German Luftwaffe on the
Basque town of Guernica in Northern Spain shocked the world.
Hundreds of civilians were killed in the raid which became a major
incident of the Spanish Civil War.
The bombing prompted Picasso to begin painting his greatest
masterpiece... Guernica.
The painting became a timely and prophetic vision of the Second
World War and is now recognised as an international icon for peace.
Despite the enormous interest the painting generated in his lifetime,
Picasso obstinately refused to explain Guernica's imagery. Guernica
has been the subject of more books than any other work in modern art
and it is often described as..."the most important work of art of the
twentieth century", yet its meanings have to this day eluded some of
the most renowned scholars.
Four years research into an unauthenticated Picasso drawing of a
crucifixion, dated 12 May, 1934, has provided a wealth of new
information about Picasso's use of symbolism. The study has also led to
some remarkable discoveries about Guernica... listed here are a few
examples.
Guernica's "Secret" Harlequins (Note – Harlequins are clowns)
"Experts," now agree that Picasso practised a form of art-magic, linked
to this was Picasso's Harlequin.
In 1932 another famous twentieth century magician, C.G.Jung...
recognised Picasso's Harlequin as an underworld character, a master
of disguise associated with the occult. Picasso identified with Harlequin
whom he also associated with Christ due to the character's mystical
power over death. In Picasso's "secret" Guernica, he has invoked a
number of unseen Harlequins to overcome the forces of death
represented in the painting.
This is the largest Harlequin, which is cleverly hidden behind the surface
imagery.
The outline of the face can be seen in the lines and background tones
of the composition, the eyes and the tuft of hair to the right of the face
are clearly visible.
The Harlequin appears to be crying a diamond tear for the victims of
the bombing. The diamond is one of the Harlequin's symbols and in
Picasso's work it is a personal signature.
Painters often rotate or invert paintings to check balance and stability
in the composition.
Picasso knew from this and from his Cubist experiments that sideways or
inverted imagery could have a powerful subliminal effect on the
viewer and give a work hidden meanings and magical secrecy.
The next Harlequin is easily recognisable as the painting is rotated 90
degrees to the right.
From this viewpoint, Harlequin's hat becomes obvious as the figure
appears to look upwards at the sky as if in reference to the bombing.
This is another Harlequin, seen by rotating the painting 90 degrees to
the left.
The outline of the face and traditional hat and mask make him
identifiable. Picasso hid many magical images in his work by
incorporating them sideways or upside down. Sometimes, as in this
case, he placed other images over the top as camouflage.
This fourth Harlequin has been concealed by inversion, which is a
common technique of encryption in Hermetic magic.
This Harlequin is identifiable by his triangular hat and serrated collar. He
is constructed from components of Punch and Judy theatre. The hat is
peaked with a crocodile's jaw and his square mouth and face when
viewed the right way up takes on the form of a traditional puppeteer's
theatre.
The Crocodile and the Harlequin are common characters in Punch
and Judy shows, their inclusion in Guernica stems from Picasso's love of
puppetry which began before the turn of the century in Barcelona
where he saw many such shows and even helped produce them with
Pere Romeu at Els Quatre Ghats . The figure falling across the
Harlequin's face which is often assumed to be a woman, in fact bears
a strong resemblance to Picasso, who appears to be identifying with
the victims of the bombing.
The next Harlequin (clown-like) image is again inverted and can be
seen to the right of the previous Harlequin.
He is identifiable from his patchwork costume and triangular hat and
appears to be kneeling on the ground as if watching the puppet show
taking place opposite.
Guernica's Hidden Images of Death
The preoccupying theme of Guernica is of course death; reinforcing
this, in the centre of the painting is a hidden skull which dominates the
viewer's subliminal impressions.
The skull is shown sideways and has been ingeniously overlaid onto the
body of the horse, which is also a death symbol. The skull's mechanical
appearance seems appropriate to the modern weaponry used in the
1937 bombing. Picasso often hid one or more related symbols within a
particular image as seen here.
Below the dying horse in the centre of the painting is a concealed bull's
head contained in the outline of the horse's buckled front leg. Its
location infers that it is plunging its horns into the horse's belly from
below... the goring of the horse in the bullfight was a favourite subject
for Picasso and has strong sexual overtones.
This image, like the concealed caricature of Hitler (not discussed in this
article) was first identified by Mel Becraft, the inspired Guernica scholar
and author of "Picasso's Guernica, Images within Images"
Picasso remained neutral during the Spanish Civil War, World War I and
World War II, refusing to fight for any side or country. Picasso never
commented on this but encouraged the idea that it was because he
was a pacifist. Some of his contemporaries though (including Braque)
felt that this neutrality had more to do with cowardice than principle.
As a Spanish citizen living in France, Picasso was under no compulsion
to fight against the invading Germans in either world war. In the
Spanish Civil War, service for Spaniards living abroad was optional and
would have involved a voluntary return to the country to join either
side. While Picasso expressed anger and condemnation of Franco and
the Fascists through his art he did not take up arms against them.
He also remained aloof from the Catalan independence movement
during his youth despite expressing general support and being friendly
with activists within it. No political movement seemed to compel his
support to any great degree, though he did become a member of the
Communist Party.
During the Second World War, Picasso resided in Paris when the
Germans occupied the city. The Nazis hated his style of painting, so he
was not able to show his works during this time. He retreated into his
studio, continuing to paint all the while. While the Germans outlawed
bronze casting in Paris, Picasso was still able to continue because of
the French resistance who would smuggle bronze to him.
Comparisons
There are so many similarities between 1934 drawing and Guernica
that it seems certain to be an important but unknown precursor to
Picasso's greatest painting.
Like the drawing, Guernica is also full of hidden images and themes,
consequently, almost every line and shape in it is meaningful, either in
the context of what it represents or what it is concealing.
The themes of death, the bullfight and the crucifixion are common to
both pictures.
The Guernica bull is very like the bull in the drawing, both are huge, in
profile and stand motionless observing the scene before them.
There is a strong similarity in the dramatic clashing of light and dark
tones and the overhead light sources in both pictures.
In both Guernica and the 1934 drawing there is a second bull's head
concealed below the horse.
The head of the woman with the lamp in Guernica swoops downwards
from the upper right corner in exactly the same way as does the head
of the hidden Lucifer in the drawing. Lucifer means 'the light bringer'
and is related symbolically to Venus, the Morning Star. She represents
the evil of the physical world.
The fallen warrior in Guernica is very similar to the central figure in the
1934 drawing, both are in the crucifixion pose and both have severed
arms, identifying them symbolically with Picasso. The fallen warrior, like
the central figure in the drawing, is also relatable to Parsifal, because of
the broken sword in his hand. Parsival was given a magnificent sword
which breaks in two at a crucial moment in battle.
In the centre of Guernica there is a human skull concealed within the
body and legs of the wounded horse.
Both pictures contain the same overlaying of horse and skull in the
centre.
In Guernica the horse has been stabbed by a spear, a symbol
representing Picasso-the first four letters of his name mean spear in
Spanish. The diamond tip of the spear represents harlequin, who like
Christ has a mystical power over death.
The Guernica spear also has a relationship to the broad paintbrush in
the 1934 drawing. This has been overlaid on to the skull within the area
of the concealed horse. In Guernica we find the skull penetrated by a
spear within the horse. Picasso would have certainly made the
association between a wet paintbrush and a spear in his childhood.
Therefore it seems plausible from the placing of the paintbrush in the
1934 drawing, that the Guernica spear, is also a cryptic representation
of Picasso's paintbrush, partly because of its similar appearance and
partly because of its connection to Picasso's remarks about painting
being a weapon,
'No, painting is not made to decorate apartments. It’s an offensive and
defensive weapon against the enemy.'
The Guernica spear penetrates a cryptic representation of Hitler in the
centre of the composition. In the centre of the 1934 drawing there is
also a concealed portrait of Hitler.
In the 1934 drawing, Picasso takes possession of the spear from Klingsor,
who is strongly associated with Hitler. In Guernica, the artist continues
this Wagnerian narrative by stabbing Hitler with the spear, which has
now been transformed into a talisman of Picasso's personal mystical
symbols.
Picasso was very secretive about the meanings of Guernica and would
only talk about it in a guarded and superficial way, yet the mysteries of
its imagery have given rise to more art historical interpretations than
any other picture in history. Surprisingly, nearly all of these scholarly
interpretations are oblivious to Guernica's concealed imagery.