Kristi V. Shanahan
Description:
A portrait with a multi-colored face and a green left hand is at the mouth. The right hand is hidden behind the white chin and left hand. The fingernails are yellow. The person is wearing a red hat with a blue and yellow bow and clutching a white handkerchief in the left hand. The figure bites the handkerchief, showing both rows of teeth on the right side. The hair is smooth in colors of blue, purple, green and black. All colors are outlined in black. The hair is of medium length, divided into lines outlined in black and pulled behind the right ear. No hair is seen on the left side. Bangs of red, yellow and black protrude from the hat in a semi-curled fashion of short and even length. The hat is red, blue and yellow, all outlined in black geometric shapes. The right side of the face is bright yellow; the left, greenish/yellow. Purple triangles fall from eyes. Black starred pupils jump from black concentric ovals wherein yellow appears framing thickly eyelashed eyes. Green, purple and yellow fill the space upward towards the slanted, thickly brushed eyebrows. A tear represented by a curving line ending in a circle, flows from under the right eye downward to just beneath the right ear on the side of the face. A curving T-shape fills the void in between. Beneath the T, between the eyes, is a black geometric shape just over the lacy top of the handkerchief. The mouth superimposes the handkerchief, with teeth and lips fully outlined in a bite. A crumpled edge of the cloth protrudes from mouth to the green and yellow left hand. Beneath the mouth the white, right thumb cradles a white chin, outlined in black. Three black lines and a curved one show beneath the white fingernail. Only the right side of the green and yellow neck are visible between thumb and black/brown clothing which leads to the bottom of the picture plane, and extends upward on the right side one third of the way to the top. The clothing is a series of connected squares, rectangles and triangles. Each shape has reddish inlines with tiny white brush strokes.
A black-lined horizontal band of brown with yellow outline on both sides appears from behind the head on both sides, leading upward on the left side of the plane to a point, then moving downward to the edge of the left side. Red is between the band and the clothing. Above the band is a series of eight vertical sections, divided by differing values of oranges, yellows, blues and greens. The four sections directly over the hat are brown.
The figure’s face, hair, hat, hand and neck consume the central part of the picture. Clothing beneath extends from the extreme left of the painting to the extreme right, creating a U shape of clothes, each side thicker than at the bottom. This represents the bottom third of the painting with the brown band and upper sections, the top two thirds. Above the band to the left of the face is a section of blue, red and brown, divided from the other sections by a black line, which ends where the band extends downward at a miter point. There, the brown band becomes red to edge of the picture plane.
Lines, angles, triangles, curves, ovals, rectangles and polygons of various shapes and sizes form the construct of the painting. It is a cubist painting, in which shapes are modified and outlined in such a way as to create the image of a woman weeping, while not being realistic.
The textures include that of skin, nails, cloth of the hat, decorative flower, handkerchief and clothing, hair and wood.
Deduction:
The viewer is very close to the figure’s face, close enough to touch. It is the face of a woman who is crying, with face contorted in a tearful grimace. She holds and bites the handkerchief. She is dressed up, with a fancy hat and outfit. Her hair appears combed and neat. Make-up has probably been applied, emphasizing the eyes. She appears youthful, but not childlike; perhaps in her 20’s or 30’s, judging by the dark hair and unlined face. She seems slender, though we only see her face and part of her upper torso. The scene is sad as we are confronted with the image of the crying woman.
The viewer can sense the tragedy implied in this face. We can imagine that the tear will be wiped away but that the sobbing will continue. We are probably outdoors, judging by the hat, though this might not be the case; perhaps she has just moved indoors. We cannot tell the season by the clothing. Her hidden nose may be red from blowing, face, sore from crying. We cannot tell if there is any noise apart from her crying. Her clothing indicates a comfortable position in life. The hat is a fanciful juxtaposition to the mood, and seems dated by today’s standards.
Speculation:
The scene is one of calm devastation. We cannot tell
by the painting
where the woman is, in what country, what town, though we know that she has played a part in the tragedy that occurred at Guernica. Her sorrow is profound and overwhelming. She has witnessed, or been given news that is incomprehensible and beyond tragic, though she seems to implore understanding. She is composed in her grief. Her carefully placed hat and attire suggest a conflict between the beautiful and the unspeakable, as reflected in her face. The scene - clean, bright and organized - plays against her face, which tells of dark chaos. We are intimate witnesses to her grief. In spite of her attempts at beauty, her life is experiencing something ugly.
This type of analysis is one of many important ways of viewing and ultimately understanding a painting. Through this process students will necessarily avoid the tendency to react first, in an emotional way, to what they see. It will represent a way toward a more sophisticated understanding of what the artist intended in the creation of a work.
During the period of Occupation, Picasso was prolific in his studio, albeit cloistered and censored. None of his work was shown, anywhere. Let’s take a closer look at a two others. In Woman with Fish Hat,xxix from 1942, Picasso picks up the theme of a seated woman in a rather confining, iron chair, as if imprisoned in some sort of iron cage. He had painted several in this same genre, changing values, lines and shapes, apparel, backgrounds, but with the same intense and focused eyes. They seem to stare in accusation and anger, but with sadness, too. In any case, the face is filled with emotional tenseness. The rather peculiar hat, which resembles a platter made of fish with lemon and utensils, makes a humorous intrusion onto the stark portrait. What this may be, though, in addition to the artistic image, is a reference to the food shortage in occupied Paris that year.
In Still Life with Pitcher, Candle, and Enamel Potxxx we see a different Picasso. Here the mood is calm and serene. It is 1945, just months after the liberation of Paris. What Picasso offers in this beautiful still life is the calm at the end of a very long nightmare. We see the candle, perhaps the same candle of
Guernica
, but this time its light illuminates the table of objects, in perfect harmony and balance. This painting was exhibited at the Salon d’Automne of 1944, where Picasso was honored as its most revered and cherished guest. What a tribute to a man who had never capitulated to the hatred of the Nazis, but who stayed the course in the country he had come to love. He was asked at the exposition what sustained him, what had continually sustained him as an artistic witness to the events of the decade. He replied:
What do you suppose an artist is? If a painter, an imbecile who has nothing but eyes, nothing but ears if he is a musician, a lyre at every level if he is a poet, nothing but muscles if he is a boxer? Quite the contrary, he is a political being, constantly aware of what is going on in the world, whether it be harrowing, bitter, or sweet, and he cannot help being shaped by it. How would it be possible not to take an interest in other people, to withdraw in some ivory tower so as not to share existence with them? No, painting is not interior decoration. It is an instrument of war for offense and defense against the enemy.xxxi
Picasso was able, in this painting, to honor the humble simplicity of everyday things in a way, which elevates each to an almost sacred level. In their modesty and dignity, each object, perfectly placed, is endowed with beauty and an ironic tenderness.
Pablo Picasso is considered one of the finest, and certainly the most prolific painter of the 20th century. His range and styles reflect most of the different schools of modern art. I am hoping to introduce or better acquaint my students with his genius, and to help them see how he invites us to witness his hopes and experiences, as evidence of the reality that he lived and survived.