Talk:Guernica (Picasso)

Skip to table of contents

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Guernica (Picasso) article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1

A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on April 26, 2014.

Military history: European / Spanish C‑class

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history

C

This article has been rated as C-class on the project's quality scale.

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion met Coverage and accuracy: criterion not met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met

Associated task forces:
/
	European military history task force
	Spanish military history task force

Death Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Death, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Death on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.DeathWikipedia:WikiProject DeathTemplate:WikiProject DeathDeath
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Visual arts

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Visual arts, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of visual arts on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Visual artsWikipedia:WikiProject Visual artsTemplate:WikiProject Visual artsvisual arts

Basque

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Basque, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the Basque Country, Basque people, Basque language, history and culture on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.BasqueWikipedia:WikiProject BasqueTemplate:WikiProject BasqueBasque
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.

Spain High‑importance

	Spain portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Spain, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Spain on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SpainWikipedia:WikiProject SpainTemplate:WikiProject SpainSpain
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

France High‑importance

	France portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject France, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of France on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.FranceWikipedia:WikiProject FranceTemplate:WikiProject FranceFrance
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report. The week in which this happened:

July 14 to 20, 2013

Richardson reference

The article makes multiple references to Richardson (2016) but no detail of this work is given. Richardson does not appear to have published anything in 2016. Ppp2aaa (talk) 18:30, 3 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]

From the Sources section: Richardson, John (2016) "A Different Guernica". The New York Review of Books, 12 May 2016, 63 (8): 4–6. Randy Kryn (talk) 19:09, 3 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Bigger Picture Please?

Since this is an article about a very famous and absolutely enormous painting, would it not be a good idea to replace the absurdly tiny picture of it you have here with something which would allow readers to have a proper look at the thing the article is about? 81.152.174.188 (talk) 23:07, 3 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It's actually pretty big as far as Wikipedia images go, but I did enlarge the image at the "Composition" section a bit in response to your concern. Thanks for voicing it. Randy Kryn (talk) 02:57, 4 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

Mural del Gernika.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 12:37, 27 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The word 'Mural' repeatedly used

The word mural apperas in the article 7 times, despite the fact that Guiernica is not one. A mural is painted directly onto a wall whereas Guernica is oil on canvas. Admittedly a very large canvas, but still highly movable. Indeed it was sent on tour during the civil war including to Whitechapel in London, then found a semi-permanent home in New York before returning to Spain after democracy was re-established. Can someone justify the term, or else I'll remove them? Thanks, Francis Elliott — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.45.59.122 (talk) 16:47, 1 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The origins of the mural (yes, mural... :) )

I've been fussing with the Pavelló de la República CRAI Library article, which concerns the origins of Guernica. The time sequence was roughly (according to this article): For the exhibit, Picasso was commissioned to create a mural. He initially didn't know quite what to do. Then Guernica was bombed. A friend visited and suggested a response. Sometime later Picasso was inspired and created the mural (yes, mural... :) ), finishing after the Exhibition had started. The work then had its debut when the Pavello opened sometime later on 12 July 1937. So I believe the lead of article describes the sequence incorrectly. Bdushaw (talk) 11:57, 21 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Just to be clear, the lead, to me, reads as "Picasso created Guernica...at the request of Spanish Nationalists..." which is what I object to. He was commissioned for some sort of mural to be determined, the mural intended for the Pavillion. Later, he was inspired by various motivations to create Guernica. Which, in satisfaction of his commission, was then shown at the Pavillion (to mixed reviews...). Bdushaw (talk) 12:09, 21 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This is an oil-on-canvas painting, not a mural (which is a painting that is painted upon a wall, etc.). The canvas is large, and it has been called a "mural-sized painting", but is still a moveable canvas (and it has been moved several times) and not a stationary mural. Randy Kryn (talk) 12:42, 21 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

(yes, mural.... :)) but why? Why call it a mural? It isn't painted onto a wall. 82.45.59.122 (talk) 13:38, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There are many sources that use the word "mural" - I believe the source of the issue is that Picasso was commissioned to create a "mural" for the Pavilion (much as Miró was commissioned for a mural, The Reaper (Miró)). For his "mural" he created a "painting" on several large sections that could be transported to the Pavilion. Reina Sofia calls it both a mural and a painting. The sources use both terms. One can appeal to formal definitions, but that won't help the situation much... Bdushaw (talk) 22:57, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

For example, source 7 of this article has the quote (perhaps the one with the popups): "Since the commission was originally intended to be a mural for the World's Fair, Guernica was conceived as a very large painting on canvas (about 11 feet by 25 feet)." Potaato-PotAAto... Bdushaw (talk) 23:07, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Spanish Pavilion, as you may know, was reconstructed in Barcelona in 1992, and includes Guernica in its original location. Here is a photo of how the "painting"/"mural" looks in its original location. Bdushaw (talk) 01:07, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Lead paragraph on creation of Guernica

My recent revision/correction of this paragraph was reverted, for reasons stated in edit summary. OK, but the existing paragraph is badly incorrect. The Guernica was not commissioned, but some kind of mural was commissioned. And, a somewhat grotesque error, Guernica was not commissioned by the Nationalist (fascist) government... (One suspects someone made this latter error as a matter of vandalism?) The paragraph I wrote was incidentally larger than the existing paragraph. Bdushaw (talk) 13:29, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Bdushaw, and the concern seems to be in misinterpreting the 'Nationalist' sentence. The text was saying that the bombing was done at the request of the Nationalists, not that Picasso was commissioned by the Nationalists. I've removed that confusing part for brevity, as the attack is soon accurately described at length in the text below. Randy Kryn (talk) 13:43, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I see what was happening with the sentence - its better now, Thx. Bdushaw (talk) 14:11, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]