Painted Civil War
Posted in Quality Painting on 10/01/2008 11:06 pm by adminPainted Civil War
Can anyone sum up the Spanish Civil War and it's relation to the Guernica by Picasso for me?
in like a short paragraph
I need it asap if you could add some like symbolism about painting that would be nice too
The Spanish Civil War was between the democratically elected leftish government of Manuel Azaña and the right-wing Falangist (Fascist) forces under the command of General Francisco Franco.
The Republican - government supporters - were divided among the left, with anarchist, pro-Soviet communist, pro-Trotsky communists and liberal left wingers all fighting, sometimes fighting each other (the Trotskyite POUM was destroyed by the Spanish Communist Party).
The Falangist forces represented the military, large land-owners, the church and other conservative elements scared that the left-wing government would both reduce their political influence, or seize their property.
Both sides had influential backers, the Republicans were supported to some degree by the USSR, and the Falangists were backed by troops, materiel and aircraft by Nazi Germany and to some extent by Fascist Italy.
Germany's Condor legion of bombers wrote themselves into infamy perpetrating the first aerial bombardment of an undefended city with of military significance - the city of Guernica.
Guenica was a Basque city - the Basques were supporters of the Republic and wanted autonomy.
Picasso, like the rest of the World, was horrified by the slaughter and painted his masterpiece as a warning, a lament and a tribute to the civilians of the city - and to the people oppressed by the Falangists.
The painting caused a sensation - the Civil War was still going on, and the painting is a visceral, violent reaction to the horrors of the war - particularly the German bombing of the Basque town of Guernica. It became a symbol for the anti-fascists in Spain. He refused to allow it to return to Spain until democracy was restored. It went home in 1992.
The symbols are many and varied, these websites explain them better than I could. And the Simon Schama Youtube video goes into great detail about both the conflict and the painting.
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11233
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/guernica.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvzuRQIctx8&feature=PlayList&p=A283246DB0FF0E48&index=0
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