A while ago we went to see the Picasso exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It amazes me that Picasso was so successful in his own lifetime; he was wealthy and lived a life of luxury and ease. This painting of the bombing of the Basque village, Guernica, has always held my imagination in horror. When someone asks me whether the beautiful is to be equated with that which gives pleasure, I always use this painting in my answer. For this work is beautiful but it gives me no pleasure at all; in contemplating the images, you will notice only horror, loss and brutuality. Hardly giving a normal manly man pleasure. Therefore the beautiful is not another way of saying 'that which gives pleasure'.
What do you think the Latin lettering is for?
3 comments:
"Guernica" is such a powerful image. To me it captures the suffering of the 20th century.
Apparently the whole image came together when he added the light bulb at the top -- there is something so creepy about it. . .
I give up on your lettering question. . . what's the answer? That it's beautiful but not moving? Gimme a hint, manly man!
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