How did the famous painting guernica, which the American Secretary of State was afraid of, become an "anti-war label"?

On February 5, 23, new york, outside the meeting room of the UN Security Council, the then US Secretary of State Lin? Powell claimed in the flash that Saddam Hussein's regime may have produced weapons of mass destruction, and the United States used this as an excuse to announce its attack on Iraq.

Behind Powell, there is a blue cloth printed with the emblem of the United Nations. This huge blue cloth hides the replica tapestry of Picasso's masterpiece guernica.

It's undoubtedly full of irony to declare war in front of such an anti-war masterpiece. There is no silver to block guernica, but it has increased its strength. A large number of protesters held up the image of guernica in the street to oppose Powell's behavior.

As a painting, why is guernica so powerful? Can make those who start the war feel scared. How it went from a work of art to an anti-war label. British scholar James? Attlee's guernica: Picasso's Anger and Reflection on Human War tells you the story behind this masterpiece.

1. Why did guernica come into being?

One day in p>1937, a delegation of the Spanish government knocked on the door of Picasso's apartment on 23rd Street in Paris and persuaded him to contribute an important work to the Spanish Pavilion of the World Expo, which opened in May.

Just last summer, Spanish troops stationed in Morocco, led by Franco and General Moura, launched a rebellion, and the Spanish Civil War broke out.

contrary to the meaning of guernica as a symbol of peace, the government hopes to end the arms embargo imposed by Britain, France and Germany on Spain and equip an army to fight against the rebels.

Picasso, who hated commissioned creation and didn't care about politics, was washed away by the events that happened in the past six months. After hearing the crazy language and brutal actions of dictator Franco and his followers, he wrote:? The Spanish War was a kind of reaction? Anti-people and anti-freedom? .

After the air raid in Malaga, his birthplace, Picasso created the etching print "Franco's Dreams and Lies". This image of general Franco, who is obscene and ridiculous, with one eye and two big nostrils, intoxicated by vanity and brutal instinct, clearly expresses his feelings about the civil war and the people who caused it.

While Picasso was searching for a theme, a tragic event happened: in April 1937, the German Air Force bombed an unguarded Basque town, guernica. Disintegration, doomsday, raging fire. Fear spread outward from guernica, and with all kinds of news, it seeped into Picasso's studio in Paris from the crack of the door like a repressed fog.

During the conversation at the Flower God Cafe, in the photos of the ruins published and between the lines of various reports, Picasso learned about the tragic situation of guernica and began to create this famous painting.

2. How was guernica born?

guernica was written in an open way. Influential artists, writers and other cultural figures were invited to the studio to watch its creative process. Dora Picasso's lover? Mal recorded all the progress of painting in detail with photos.

interestingly, in the changes of these black-and-white photos, as the painter himself said? Although the appearance has changed, the original? Vision? Almost unchanged. ?

The callous bull and the whining horse both appeared in the first two sketches, and were tossed and turned over in the following days. ? A crying woman? Repeatedly appeared in the draft, the face with a confused expression and a weeping mouth was constantly adjusted until it was frozen in the picture.

Picasso tried to make the wounded soldier raise a muscular arm and clench a bundle of grain with his fist. And these were finally replaced by something between the eyes and the spotlight, and finally evolved into a light bulb in the manuscript.

This light bulb gives off dim light, and with the lamp held by the woman, it forms two light sources in the painting. Picasso's selective focusing draws lessons from his visual tutor Francisco? Goya's Madrid on May 3rd, 188. The light source in Goya's paintings comes from square lanterns placed on the ground, Picasso said? That lantern is death? .

These photographs are not only records, but also have an impact on paintings. Guernica, which is composed of pictographic elements and themes, according to Mal? Like a photo? , reflecting the moment when guernica was destroyed.

The first painting started on May 1st, and the whole painting lasted for more than one month. Picasso hates finishing a work. His assistant Robert? Mata's daily job is to try to stop him from painting and get guernica out of the studio.

3. From famous works of art to anti-war labels

It has been more than 8 years since guernica was written. guernica has surpassed the works of art itself and become an anti-war label, showing strong spiritual strength.

In 196s, guernica was exhibited in new york Museum of Modern Art, but this one was in the midst of a war. The details of this painting often appear on anti-war protest banners and placards, and the room it exhibited became the scene of vigil activities against the Vietnam War.

In p>1967, 4 artists and writers petitioned Picasso, asking him to take guernica away from the United States. They wrote:? Please withdraw your painting from the United States during the war, so as to carry forward the spirit of your painting and let people feel the message it wants to convey again. ? The influence of guernica is evident.

guernica also inspired many artists in later generations. American artist Ringgold once wrote American People Series No.2: Death. Like Picasso, she painted a disaster, but the theme was not aerial bombing, but the racial conflict that broke out in the streets of the United States in the 196s.

This painting obviously draws lessons from the composition of guernica, which continues Picasso's distorted cubist style. The ferocious and desperate faces of the characters in the painting express the painter's strong opposition to racial conflicts and extreme violence.

Today, local wars and violent conflicts are still staged all over the world, but people's pursuit of peace has never stopped. The existence of guernica always reminds future generations why wars started and how painful human beings paid for peace.