Description:
Picasso's magnificent and deeply troubling painting about the suffering of war is painted entirely in shades of gray. Dangling high up in the middle of the crowded composition is a naked light bulb, set in an eye shape, sending out spiky rays. Near it, a kerosene lamp is held by a hand at the end of an impossibly long arm. The arm stretches out from a window on the right side of the painting, and the hand and arm belong to a frightened woman who looks ahead and gasps in horror. Behind the window, a house is engulfed in flames. Inside, a body reaches upward in agony, struck by collapsing timbers. In the lower right corner, a woman escapes the inferno. As she drags herself away from the fire, she looks up pleadingly. Her hand and body are both distorted, suggesting the injuries she has suffered. Near the center, a horse rears and neighs in pain as a lance pierces its body. To convey the animal's agony, Picasso exaggeraged its features, depicting it with flared nostrils and a pointed tongue in its screaming mouth. The horse's rider has fallen, landing across one of the horse's hoofs. His left arm reaches out toward the left side of the canvas. His body seems chopped into bits; a severed arm holding a broken sword appears in the bottom center. Above the dead man, Picasso painted a woman wailing in grief, holding her lifeless child. Behind her is a threatening bull. An actual event drove Picasso to create this painting. While World War II was brewing in Europe, in 1937 the French government organized a Universal Exposition intended to ease the tension. Entitled "Progress and Peace," it was to be held at the base of the Eiffel Tower, and fifty-two countries were invited to display their art. In January of 1937, the Spanish Republic asked Picasso to create something special for the occasion, and he accepted. While he was thinking of an appropriate subject, word came of a tragedy in his homeland. A civil war was being fought there. General Francisco Franco led the insurgent forces against the Spanish Republic. In response to his request, German planes bombed the small town of Guernica in northern Spain. Guernica was the ancient capital of the proud and independent Basques. Although the small city was defenseless, the planes passed over again and again, dropping bombs. Picasso learned about the brutal attack in the newspaper, where he read that the bombing lasted for hours, killing sixteen hundred people, wounding thousands more, and devastating the city. The artist decided to make this event the subject of this painting for the Exposition. To develop his idea, Picasso made more than one hundred drawings. He looked at great paintings showing classical and biblical scenes of war, and created something totally new. He decided that instead of showing the actual town, he would use a few representative figures, placing them on a canvas more than ten feet high and twenty-five feet long. In six weeks, Picasso completed the mural, which he named Guernica. Through exaggerated poses and expressions, jagged shapes and lines, Picasso captured the frenzied horror of the attack.
This is a Serigraph
You are viewing a Serigraph print. Fine artists create serigraphs in limited runs by applying layer upon layer of pigment to the print surface by pressing it through a mesh screen containing a stencil. The complex and lengthy process commonly uses inks for pigment and stencils made of a variety of materials. Because of the nature of the process each serigraph is unique.
This is a Giclee
You are viewing a giclee print. Each piece was created by a special process called "Giclee". Giclee is a computer generated print that is produced by the spraying of an image on to fine art paper. The inks used are specially formulated so that the fine print heads can spurt jets of ink in minute droplets. When prints are produced on fine art quality paper, the print should posses archival standards of permanence comparable or better than other collectible work.
This is a Hand Colored Print
You are viewing a hand colored print. The process begins with hand-pulled black & white decorative and antique reproduction prints. Each print is then individually designed and hand colored using the same methods of color application that were used throughout the 19th century, before modern color lithography. Individual artists meticulously paint each piece using the finest European watercolor paints on heavy mat, acid free, archival paper resistant to deterioration and discoloration. By combining old world craftsmanship with fresh design innovations, our artists create works of stunning depth and vibrancy that are absolutely beautiful and unique.
This is a Museum Quality Fine Art Print
You are viewing a museum quality fine-art print. The prints we carry are produced using either the lithographic or serigraphic printing process and are printed on high quality archival acid free paper. Most prints are on a thick (120 pound or higher) stock of paper. Each print is of the highest museum art print reproduction quality and are supplied by the world's leading art publishers. These prints rival any detailed reproduction from their originals and are geared towards the discerning eye of the particular art collector.
This is a Limited Edition
Limited editions are a series of identical prints, which are limited to a one-time printing of a certain number of pieces. The artist determines the size of the edition, and usually signs and numbers each individual piece. Limited edition prints framed by the Fulcrum Gallery are handled separately and given the utmost individual care and attention, using archival framing materials and practices. Because limited editions are in limited supply, and are of exceptionally high quality, the price is generally at a premium to regular open edition prints.
