Picasso's Guernica

ART AND IMAGES IN PSYCHIATRY

SECTION EDITOR: JAMES C. HARRIS, MD Picasso’s Guernica What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who has only eyes, if he is a painter....Far, far from it: at the same time, he is also a political being, constantly aware of the heartbreaking, pas- sionate, or delightful things that happen in the world, shaping himself completely in their image....No,painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war for attack and defense against the enemy. Pablo Picasso to Simone Te´ry, 19451(p152-153)

ABLO PICASSO (1881-1973) dead and 889 wounded. All of the com- wounded bird attempts flight. The woman was uncertain when ap- mercial structures were destroyed along on the right throws up her arms in de- proached to paint a mural for with 70% of the residential buildings. spair as she falls in a burning house sig- the Spanish pavilion for the Despite the worldwide publicity and nified by jagged flames. Another seeks to P1937 Paris International Exposition, a reliable eyewitness accounts, Franco’s fas- escape. A lightbulb, the pupil of a dis- World’s Fair, intended to be a celebra- cist rebels, the Nationalists, immediately embodied “eye,” brings harsh modern il- tion of modern technology.2 He found his denied responsibility and blamed the lumination to the tragic scene. The elec- subject in late April 1937. German (Con- Basques for burning Guernica.2(p83) Re- tric bulb, bombia in Spanish, may serve dor Legion) and Italian pilots had bombed markably many believed these lies; it as an ironic metaphor on the fair’s theme. and burned to the ground Guernica, the seemed unimaginable that civilians could A woman, reminiscent of images of a legendary capital of the Basque people, be so targeted and so tortured. But Pi- Christian Pieta, holds a limp dead child, at the behest of the fascist rebel leader casso was not deceived. Infuriated after a continuing meditation on innocent sac- General Francisco Franco (1892-1975). reading newspaper accounts, he imme- rifice. Earlier, Picasso gave her a single Although Guernica, a defenseless small diately began to outline the mural that be- blood-red tear, but in the end all color is civilian farm community of 7000 resi- came emblematic of the horror of war. removed from the painting. dents in northern Spain, lacked military Years later a tapestry, an exact replica of The enduring symbolic importance of importance, it was the cradle of the Basque Guernica, was prepared and purchased by Picasso’s painting was apparent Febru- civilization and symbol of its freedom. Nelson Rockefeller and placed at the en- ary 5, 2003, when a blue curtain covered That freedom was embodied in an an- trance to the Security Council Chamber the Rockefeller Guernica tapestry while cient oak tree under which Spanish kings at the United Nations as a perpetual re- Colin Powell and John Negroponte gave swore firm oaths that acknowledged Bis- minder of the critical need for world peace. press conferences at the United Nations cayan autonomy. Thus, the aim of the On May 11, 15 days after the bomb- justifying why the US must go to war with attack, the first on European soil that de- ing, Picasso stretched a canvas 111⁄2 feet Iraq. The public outcry over it being cov- liberately targeted and indiscriminately tall and nearly 26 feet wide. Laying out ered demonstrated once again its power 2 slaughtered civilians, was to demoralize the images in full scale, he said, “I clearly to represent the horrors of war. and humiliate. express my loathing for the military caste Remarkably, miraculously to many, It introduced Europe to future total that has plunged Spain into a sea of suf- the legendary Guernica oak (Quercus ro- war! German Luftwaffe chief Hermann fering and death.”2(p3) Picasso refused a bur) and the adjacent assembly hall sur- Goering later acknowledged at the specific explanation of the imagery but ac- vived the bombing unharmed. Perhaps in Nuremberg war crimes trials in 1945 and knowledged that the bull represented bru- recognition of the symbolic oak’s sur- 1946 that Guernica was a designated tality and darkness and the horse, the vival, Picasso placed a flower beside the practice site for the Nazi air force to hone people,3(p148) leaving allegorical interpre- dying warrior’s hand. On April 26, 1997, their strategy and skills. tation to the individual viewer. the German people formally apologized South African reporter George Speer Except for the bull, all depicted cry out to the citizens of the restored city of Guer- arrived at the burning city from Bilbao, in despair with mouths open, reminis- nica. The city thrives today and views it- Spain, at 2 AM on April 27, 1937, several cent of the classic Greek tragic mask. A self as an international symbol of resil- hours after the attack. He described the woman holds out a lantern illuminating ience and hope; it is the site of a museum deliberate 3-phrase attack in the next the chaos, an archetypal light bearer. The devoted to world peace. As for Picasso’s Guernica, it remains the most powerful an- morning’s London Times and New York central image is the noble horse shown 5 Times.3(p14) First, explosive (percussive) with a spear piercing its heart with a gap- tiwar statement in modern art. bombs weighing as much as 1000 pounds ing wound adjacent to the spear. The James C. Harris, MD were dropped, followed by machine-gun horse seems indomitable in dying. Not so attack on residents as they sought to flee. in an earlier version, where the horse’s Finally, smaller incendiary bombs were head is bowed in submission. Psychologi- REFERENCES dropped to ensure that the city would be cally perhaps Picasso had to embrace the burned to the ground, totally annihilated! indignity of utter defeat before finding his 1. Oppler EC, ed. Picasso’s Guernica. New York, NY: WW Norton; 1988. Those who escaped could see the goggles resolve. The impassive bull seems indif- 2. Martin R. Picasso’s War. London, UK: Simon & on the faces of the pilots as they flew low ferent to the surrounding suffering. A de- Schuster; 2002. to gun them down. Bombs fell for 3 hours, capitated and dismembered hollow war- 3. Southworth HR. Guernica! Guernica! Berkeley: Uni- first directed to specific targets, then rior, holding a broken sword in his right versity of California Press; 1977. 4. Russell FD. Picasso’s Guernica. Montclair, NJ: Al- dropped randomly when smoke obscured hand, is no match for modern warfare. lanheld & Schram; 1980. the pilots’ view. Guernica burned for 3 His left hand is open and in its lines some 5. Patterson I. Guernica and Total War. Cambridge, days; early reports found 1645 civilians see the stigmata of Christ’s wounds.4 A MA: Harvard University Press; 2007.

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