Print Page
Email to FriendPablo Picasso, Hand-woven Tapestry, Guernica  |
Place your cursor over the thumbnails below to view the full-size image:
| Artist: | Picasso, Pablo (1881 - 1973), After |
|---|---|
| Title: | Guernica |
| Medium: | Original woven wool tapestry |
| Image Size: | 70 in x 30 in (177.8 cm x 76.2 cm) |
| Condition: | This work is in good condition, with a few loose threads not affecting the overall quality of the imagery. |
| Gallery Price: Item# 3805 | Sorry, this item is sold. Please visit the rest of our Picasso fine art collection |
| Historical Description: | |
|---|---|
Hanging in the United Nations since 1985, on long-term loan from the Rockefeller family, the twenty-foot tapestry version of Picasso's Guernica has long captivated viewers. The work recently traveled to the Whitechapel Gallery, in London, in celebration of the 70-year anniversary of the original painting's display in that same space. This small-scale version of the famed tapestry offers a fantastic opportunity for collectors to acquire this moving image of suffering and despair, created in response to the 1937 Nazi bombing of the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War. This original woven wool tapestry is created after the original oil on canvas of the same title, painted by the artist in 1937. The painting was commissioned by the Spanish Republican Government for display at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris. | |
| Style: | Cubism, Blue Period, Rose Period, 20th Century Spanish Modern Master, Madoura ceramics of Vallauris, Vollard |
About Us: Masterworks Fine Art strives to be the best source of fine art for our clients and collectors all over the world. We believe the most direct way to accomplish this is by establishing a lifetime of personal and professional relationships with our clients. More About Us »
Do you own a similar Picasso to sell? We offer free evaluations.
Biography of Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)
"Yet Cubism and Modern art weren't either scientific or intellectual; they were visual and came from the eye and mind of one of the greatest geniuses in art history. Pablo Picasso, born in Spain, was a child prodigy who was recognized as such by his art-teacher father, who ably led him along. The small Museo de Picasso in Barcelona is devoted primarily to his early works, which include strikingly realistic renderings of casts of ancient sculpture.
"He was a rebel from the start and, as a teenager, began to frequent the Barcelona cafes where intellectuals gathered. He soon went to Paris, the capital of art, and soaked up the works of Manet, Gustave Courbet, and Toulouse-Lautrec, whose sketchy style impressed him greatly. Then it was back to Spain, a return to France, and again back to Spain - all in the years 1899 to 1904.
"Before he struck upon Cubism, Picasso went through a prodigious number of styles - realism, caricature, the Blue Period, and the Rose Period. The Blue Period dates from 1901 to 1904 and is characterized by a predominantly blue palette and subjects focusing on outcasts, beggars, and prostitutes. This was when he also produced his first sculptures. The most poignant work of the style is in Cleveland's Museum of Art, La Vie (1903), which was created in memory of a great childhood friend, the Spanish poet Casagemas, who had committed suicide. The painting started as a self-portrait, but Picasso's features became those of his lost friend. The composition is stilted, the space compressed, the gestures stiff, and the tones predominantly blue. Another outstanding Blue Period work, of 1903, is in the Metropolitan, The Blind Man's Meal. Yet another example, perhaps the most lyrical and mysterious ever, is in the Toledo Museum of Art, the haunting Woman with a Crow (1903).
"The Rose Period began around 1904 when Picasso's palette brightened, the paintings dominated by pinks and beiges, light blues, and roses. His subjects are saltimbanques (circus people), harlequins, and clowns, all of whom seem to be mute and strangely inactive. One of the premier works of this period is in Washington, D.C., the National Gallery's large and extremely beautiful Family of Saltimbanques dating to 1905, which portrays a group of circus workers who appear alienated and incapable of communicating with each other, set in a one-dimensional space.
"In 1905, Picasso went briefly to Holland, and on his return to Paris, his works took on a classical aura with large male and fernale figures seen frontally or in distinct profile, almost like early Greek art. One of the best of these of 1906 is in the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, NY, La Toilette. Several pieces in this new style were purchased by Gertrude (the art patron and writer) and her brother, Leo Stein.
Picasso enjoyed creating his art on many media. From paintings to etchings to ceramics, all of his works are a testament to his skills. There are even Picasso prints that are worth more than unique original works.
