RAMOS, ALYSSA ROSE B.

JUNE 17, 2020 

ARTAPP1 / M-F 8:00-10:00 AM 
 
ART ANALYSIS WORKSHEET 
 
 

Representational Art - Abstract Cubism & Surrealism 

 
 
PART 1: GENERAL INFORMATION 
 
1. SOURCE (book or link) in APA format: In many cases, this information can be found on a
label or in a gallery guidebook. There may be an artist’s statement available in the gallery.
If so, indicate in your text or by ​a footnote or endnote to your paper where you got the
information.
 

 
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. (n.d). Guernica. Retrieve on June 6,
2020 from​ ​https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/collection/artwork/guernica​. 
 
“ART IS THE LIE THAT TELLS THE TRUTH.” - Pablo Picasso 
 
2. SUBJECT MATTER: Who or what is represented?
 
 Guernica  was  made  by  Picasso  to  communicate  his  shock  over  the 
Nazi  bombarding  of  a  Basque  city  in  northern  Spain,  requested  by  General 
Franco.  From  that  point  forward,  this  stupendous  high  contrast  canvas  has 
become a global image of annihilation submitted during wartime. 

Guernica  shows  the  disasters  of  war  and  the  enduring  it  delivers  upon 
people,  especially  guiltless  regular  citizens.  This  stretches  out,  for  instance,  to 
the  wall  painting's  two  prevailing  components  which  are  the  bull  and  the 
horse,  four  ​screaming  women,  a  man  and  a  child,  dismemberment,  and 
flames,  the  characters  and  objects  that  built  the  concept  of  the  artwork.  In 
the  Spanish  culture,  the  bull  and  the  horse  are  of  great  importance  as animal 
characters. 

The  bull  most  likely  speaks  to  the  attack  of  Fascism.  Picasso  said  it 
implied  fierceness  and  murkiness,  apparently  suggestive  of  his  prophetic.  He 
additionally  expressed  that  the  horse  spoke  to  the  individuals  of  Guernica. 
Pablo  Picasso  utilized  these  to  assume  a  wide  range  of  opportunities  after 
some  time.  This  has  made  the  assignment  of  deciphering  the  particular 
importance of the bull and the horse intense. 
 
3.  ARTIST  OR  ARCHITECT:  What  person  or  group  made  it?  Often  this  is  not 
known.  If  there  is  a  name,  refer  to  this  person  as  the  artist  or  architect,  not 
“author.”  Refer  to  this  person  by  their  last  name,  not  familiarly  by  their  first 
name. 

The artwork was made by ​ Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan 
Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y 
Picasso, also known as ​Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), a Spanish artist. 

4. DATE: When was it made? Is it a copy of something older? Was it made before or after
other similar works?
t 
Guernica  was  created  from  26th  of  April  until  June  1937.  Pablo  Picass 
had  also  made  some  paintings  and  drawings  that  symbolize  war  and  chaos. 
Guernica  was  made  before  “Massacre  in  Korea”  (1951)  and  “War  and 
Peace” (1956). 

5. PROVENANCE: Where was it made? For whom? Is it typical of the art of a geographical
area?  

Guernica  was  created  by  Pablo  Picasso  at  his  home  in  Paris  in  light  of 
the  shelling  of  Guernica,  a  Basque  Country,  ​officially  the  Basque Autonomous 
Community which is one of northern Spain’s sovereign communities. 

It  was made for the society of Spain where Picasso expressed himself to 
communicate  his  shock  over  the  Nazi  war  in  northern  Spain  which  was 
spearheaded by General Franco. 

The  artwork  is  not  that  typical  but most influential painting in Spain and 

the world. Guernica turned into a marker of humankind, the message of which 
is  as  yet  comprehended  by  individuals  everywhere  throughout  the  world.  It 
was  a  gigantic  situation  for  Picasso  and  the  historical  backdrop  of 
craftsmanship, Republican workmanship, war craftsmanship, and mankind. 

6. LOCATION: Where is the work of art now? Where was it originally located? Does the
viewer look up at it, or down at it? If it is not in its original location, does the viewer see it
as the artist intended? Can it be seen on all sides, or just on one?
 

 
The artwork was exhibited and is located in ​Museo Reina Sofía​ in 
Madrid, Madrid Spain. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is 
Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. It was originally located in Museo 
del Prado and due to its size, the viewers will probably look up and can be 
seen on all sides. 

7. TECHNIQUE AND MEDIUM: What materials is it made of? How was it executed? How big
or small is it?
 
Guernica  is  an  oil  painting  on  linen  canvas.  It  was  executed by means 
of  Picasso's  imaginative  method.  The  principal  creation  for  the  wall  painting, 
drawn  the  very  day  expression  of  the  shelling  arrived  at  Picasso  in  Paris, 
presented  characters  that  had  repeated  in  the  craftsman's  past  work.  He 
formed  and  reshaped  these  figures  throughout  the  following  a  long  time  in  a 
progression  of  fundamental  representations.  The  artwork’s  size  is  ​3.5  meter  (11 
ft) tall and 7.8 meter (25.6 ft) wide. 
 
8. METHOD of PRESENTATION: ​Write the method used in presenting the subject and
explain why you consider it as the method used.
 

The  artist  utilized  abstract  cubism  and  surrealism  in  his  artwork, 
Guernica.  Cubism  has  been  viewed  as  the  most  powerful  craftsmanship 
development  in  Picasso’s  era  until  the  twentieth  century  while  surrealism  is 
most  popular  for  its  visual  fine  arts  and  compositions  and  the  proximity  of 
remarkable symbolism. 

Guernica  is  a  component  of  Surrealism  with  the  different  viewpoints  of 
Cubism.  It  was  a  stunning  painting,  both  for  its  cutting  edge,  Cubist  style,  and 
for  its  frightful  topic.  After  its  culmination,  the  wall  painting  was  shown  in  Paris, 
in  the  midst  of  developing  help  for  extremist  gatherings  in  France  and  other 
European  nations,  where  it  caused  extensive  debate  both  for  its  Cubist-style 
figure painting and its political subject. 

Guernica  consolidates  Cubist  structures  with  a  monochrome  palette 

which  renders  the  composition  progressively sensible. It is anyway the Surrealist 
pictures that make the stunning portrayal of anguish and war. 

 
PART 2: BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
 
In a few sentences describe the work. What does it look like? Is it a representation of
something? Tell what is shown. Is it an abstraction of something? Tell what the subject is
and what aspects are emphasized. Is it a non-objective work? Tell what elements are
dominant. This section is NOT an analysis of the work yet. This section is primarily a few
sentences to give the reader a sense of what the work looks like. Use ​6-7​ sentences only.
 
One of the most well known twentieth century canvases, Guernica was 
made  by  Picasso  to  communicate  his  shock  over  the  Nazi  bombarding  of  a 
Basque  city  in  northern  Spain,  requested  by  General  Franco.  From  that  point 
forward,  this  grand  highly  contrasting  canvas  has  become  a  universal  image 
of  annihilation  submitted  during  wartime.  The  painting  contains  some 
shrouded  pictures.  One  of  them  is  a  skull,  which  is  superimposed  over  the 
pony's  body. Another is a bull framed from the pony's twisted leg. Three blades 
supplant tongues in the mouths of the pony, the bull and the shouting lady. 

Guernica  is  an  objective  or  representational  artwork  as  it  shows  the 
disasters  of  war  and  the  enduring  it  causes  upon  people,  especially  guiltless 
regular  citizens.  This  work  has  increased  a  stupendous  status,  turning  into  a 
ceaseless  token  of  the  disasters  of  war,  an  enemy  of  war  image,  and  an 
epitome of harmony. 
 

“ART IS THE LIE THAT TELLS THE TRUTH.” - Pablo Picasso