·
The title of this painting is the name of a place among the
likes of Warsaw or Hiroshima, which have become synonymous with the terrible attacks
that occurred there. In 1937, the Spanish town of Guernica was bombed by German
planes. Spain was fighting a civil war, and the Nazis were “supporting” the
Nationalist party as an experiment for war strategies and weapons. The attack’s
resulting fires cost the lives of predominantly women and children. Spanish-born
Pablo Picasso had obvious connections to the tragedy and was already a very
well known painter. He immediately dropped the painting requested of him by the
Spanish government, to begin work on Guernica.
The
Spanish government had asked him to paint a piece for one of the most significant
exchanges of ideals in the early 20th century. This exchange was the
1937 Paris Expo. The main
events of the Expo were the opposing Communist and Nazi pavilions, each
equipped with extravagant artwork (read propaganda). The strain of international
conflict hung heavy on Expo guests. At the time, the war-centric work Guernica received little accolade in a
world two years away from being thrust back into global war.
Since then, the piece’s powerful imagery and composition
have become important symbols of the horrors of war. Like cubism, the painting
takes multiple angles of perspective on a subject and composes them all into a
single fractured image. A wailing mother on the left side holds her dead child.
Bodiless faces to the right show terror and concern. The focus on expressions
and personal interaction attempts to humanize the statistics of death and
injury. At least two animals are present, a bull and a horse, both of which
have open mouths and wide eyes. These may be symbols of working class farm
life, innocence, and nature, which war is about to destroy. Even the coloring
is a monochromatic blue and the composition is a whirlwind. These two elements
suggest a chaotic tendency towards war that is unending and unchanging. Even
without analysis of individual images or the benefit of research, the painting
is clearly cautionary and effectively so. Its continued use in classrooms and
museums is evidence of its effective message of, “Peace or else”.
Works Cited
"1937 Paris." Bie-Paris.org. Official Site of the Bureau International Des Expositions, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014."Guernica." Spanish Masterworks: Pablo Picasso: (1937). Spanish Arts, 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
"Pablo Picasso." PabloPicasso.org. Pablo Picasso Paintings, Quotes, and Biography, 2009. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.
Hi Michael,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to APELC! I'm Caroline Alberti and this year I am helping out Mr. Yost with the course. I took APELC last year, so if you have any questions about the course feel free to contact me.
I read your first TOW, and it is definitely on the right track. You show an impressive control of language, and I could tell you really understood the piece. One thing I think you should work on is your organization. TOWs should be structured like mini Analysis essays. Your intro is great, but lacks a thesis statement. You should end your introduction with a closed thesis statement, which lets the reader know which rhetorical devices.
In the following paragraphs, you should identify a rhetorical device in each paragraph, then explain the effect the device creates, and in turn HOW that helps achieve the purpose. This HOW aspect is what most students struggle with, but is the difference between a 5-6 and a 7-8 on the AP exam.
You identify many rhetorical devices in your last paragraph, but aren't really able to connect it explicitly to Picasso's purpose, which could be because you don't outline the purpose in your thesis.
Overall, great job on your first TOW. I know it's a lot, but try to incorporate this feedback into your next TOW, and if you have any questions feel free to contact me.
-Caroline Alberti (caroline.a24@gmail.com)