Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881. He proved himself to be a very capable artist even at an early age. At seven, his dad began giving him artistic training in both drawing and oil painting. Only thirteen years old, the young Picasso was admitted to the Barcelona School of Fine Arts. He was later sent to Madrid's Royal Academy of San Fernando, the country's best art school. He disliked formal instruction and ended up quitting the academy soon after enrollment at sixteen. He moved to Paris and shared an apartment with a friend, but he lacked earnings and oftentimes had to burn his own paintings to stay warm. Eventually he found American art collectors who were in love with his work. No longer needing to worry about food, he was able to develop Cubism with other artists. He eventually married but had multiple affairs with different mistresses, some lasting until his death. Picasso had created several anti-war paintings in his career, and to further peacemaking he joined the French Communist Party and attended international peace conferences. He was later awarded with the Stalin Peace Prize and the Lenin Peace Prize. He was also against the intervention of the United Nations and United States in the Korean War. He eventually died while drinking and entertaining friends (Pablo Picasso).
According to Picasso, the shapes in the work Guernica should be interpreted by the individual for he claims that he paints only the objects for what they are. He painted it as a direct response to the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian warplanes under Spanish Nationalist command. This style is more surrealist and less cubist. The bright light bulb at the top of the painting is the one constant reminder of the disaster. In Spanish, the term for light bulb is "bombilla" which is similar to the word for bomb, "bomba." In Spanish culture, the bull is portrayed as the dominant male while the horse is the weaker female (Cantelupe 18). In the middle of the picture, the horse is pierced by the horn of the bull from underneath through the chest. Perhaps this is symbolic of rape, and that the suffering for some is just as bad as rape. Underneath these two figures is a man who has fallen, and is no longer able to fight, demonstrated by the broken sword. The woman on the left is carrying what looks to be a dead child. She is squealing in pain, and the bull is probably a representation of the husband. He is unable to do anything more than just watch, because the damage had already been done. There are two floating figures staring at the light bulb. The one above is waving another light bulb. She is going to fight fire with fire in order to exact vengeance, but the soul on the bottom knows it is not a good idea. She wails and tries to get the other to stop, but her efforts are in appear to be in vain. The person on the right seems to be trapped and unable to escape from what seems to be a box with daggers. Death is inevitable; it is just prolonged so the person can suffer more. The imagery of the painting expresses the suffering and miseries involved with the bombing, and how something as pointless as war can invoke more violence due to the cycle of revenge and hatred.
