I have been working on an report that I must give at the end of the quarter in my Spanish class. Now this is going to be really difficult for me. I am taking a language for the first time and I am feeling really unsure of myself. The content is not the problem, it is having to give it in Spanish!

I have enjoyed the class especially when we touch on the cultural aspic and history of the spanish speaking countries. I guess the "Humanities" major in me is always pretty close to the surface for me. Anyway, I think I will give a brief report on the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. He is one of my favorite artists and I have been especially moved by his painting titled Guernica (below).

It was painted as a reaction to the bombing of the Spanish town of Gernika at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. The whole town was decimated and the reaction to this massacre was huge. (The Nazi's had a hand in the event since the Condor Legion of the German Luftwaffe did the actual bombing ). There is an excellent book on the subject, Picasso's War by Russell Martin. Visit the web site below for more information.

http://www.picassoswar.com/index.html

I highly recommend this book, both from an art history point of view, but also as a discussion of how culture is effected by an artist making a statement., in this case, the horror of the violence of war.

What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who has only eyes, if
he is a painter, or ears if he is a musician, or a lyre in every chamber of his
heart if he is a poet, or even, if he is a boxer, just his muscles?

Far from it:
at the same time, he is also a political being, constantly aware of the
heartbreaking, passionate, or delightful things that happen in the world,
shaping himself completely in their image. How could it be possible to feel no
interest in other people, and with a cool indifference to detach yourself from
the very life which they bring to you so abundantly? No, painting is not done to
decorate apartments.

It is an instrument of war.

PABLO
PICASSO

Art in all forms connect people of different cultures.