Picasso’s Guernica and Fortuny’s The Vicarage: Masterpieces of Art
Guernica (1937)
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Support: Canvas, 3.51 m x 7.82 m
Material: Oil
Formal Analysis
Color: Absence of color is made clear through a close monochromatic scale. Black, gray, and white symbolize the somberness of the event, internalizing and expressing the horror of the bombing. The lack of color represents death.
Light: Illuminates the figures that the artist wants to highlight. There are no shadows around them. The clear picture, color, and relief represent life removed.
Perspective: The composition is studied with a symmetry axis manifested by the white wall, half of the square, and the vertical pillars representing the bull on the left and the woman on the right. The perspective is also shown through the fallen warrior, followed by the rest of the figures and references that limit the architectural space.
Composition: Distributed in a triptych format: the central panel features a woman carrying a lamp and a horse; the right side shows fire and a woman screaming; the left side depicts a brave woman and a dead child. Cubism is evident as Picasso crosses the scene with triangles, the main one having the vertex at the oil lamp, the left diagonal line, the right horse’s tail, and the dense base of the fallen warrior, increasing the pace and arresting images.
Historical Context
A cry against war and brutality. Linked to the Republic. In April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, a German air attack occurred in Guernica.
Style
Guernica marked a turning point, just as 30 years before, *The Young Ladies of Avignon* (a portrait of prostitutes) had done. If the first broke the established order and subsequent explosive dynamism, this one offers a new perspective, speaking plainly and directly.
Content and Meaning
Picasso painted this in a month and a half, under the impact of the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica, devastated by Nazi aviation. Each image is a symbol of peace.
- Woman at the window: “The crying woman” reveals the truth through the light of the oil lamp. The bulb illuminates the complaint, handling information believed to be false, that the action was done by the Republicans.
- Horse: Represents the people.
- Bull: Represents the strength of the people, which is victorious.
- Warrior: The bayonet shows it broken (shattered, defeated) and a flower (hope).
- Dead child: A victim expressing the impossibility of defending oneself.
Other elements:
- Eyes looking in different directions: Horror.
- Tongues: Tragedy.
Function
Picasso put his life on the line 50 times for Guernica. It is a cry for peace.
The Vicarage (La Vicaría)
Marià Fortuny (1838-1874)
1867-1870
Support: Panel, 60 cm x 94 cm
Color
The brushstroke emphasizes freedom and preciousness. Exuberant vitality and rich color, with warm tones.
Light and Space
Light is distributed uniformly across the surface of the painting. Reflections can be seen on the metals (table). Perspective is not clearly defined, as there is no wall to physically limit the space. The screen prevents the observer from having a real idea of the dimensions.
Composition
There are three scenes: the main action, the signing of the marriage contract before the vicar and the witnesses on the right, and the bullfighter and the *manola* (a woman from the lower classes of Madrid) waiting their turn. In the square, there are elements that break the original composition. The scenes are related but independent. The composition is asymmetrical, with the table on the left. The verticality of the elements balances the composition. The *penitent* (person seeking alms) distinguishes the two groups.
Charity
Facial Expressions
The vicar’s attentive gaze is directed toward the groom, while the guests are distracted, talking among themselves.
Historical Context
Second Napoleonic Empire. Culture grows. The bourgeoisie interrupts culture. The works are successful in France, where Paris is the center of the art world and cultural events.
Style
Combines virtuoso technique with anecdotal and social criticism. Achieves capturing reality with small brushstrokes, like the bullfighter’s suit, which is made of stains. Despite being framed within realism, it is linked to preciousness. The author was fascinated by the Orient. He was a fan of Renoir and Spanish painters like Velázquez, El Greco, and especially Goya. He did not accept criticism and provoked the public with his works. Those inspired by his paintings were called *Fortunyistes*.
Content
Modern and technically innovative, but vulgar and even geographically inconsequential, he fits the label of “That’s wonderful painting.” It is a painting inspired by the paperwork Fortuny had to do to marry Cecilia, daughter of the painter Federico Madrazo. It represents family and friends of Fortuny. Technical details and small-format paintings were popular at the time. The *marchand* (art dealer) appears as a client. Artists came to the vicarage to pay 70,000 francs of the time.