"The Art of War: Examining Picasso’s Guernica as a Tool for" Topic

…. Leader Professional Development

"Suffering is an enduring theme in art, and the tradition of painting violence, pain, victims, and oppressors has long been a source of expression for artists experiencing conflict. Fransisco de Goya's Disasters of War is a shockingly graphic eye-witness depiction of the victims of guerrilla warfare in Napoleon's Peninsular Campaigns. George Grosz's 1917 faintly-cubist Explosion portrayed the destructive bombing of Berlin in the Great War.[1] Images of victims and oppressors evoke emotions in spectators, stoking societal anger with an intent toward political change. Guernica, Pablo Picasso's 1937 oil-on-canvas masterpiece of the Spanish Civil War, is believed by some to be the single greatest war painting of all time.[2] Beyond being a massive allegorical depiction of the horrors of war, it can be argued Picasso's painting purposefully served to mold spectators into proactive participants, encouraging both social action and policy decisions.[3]

In this effort, Picasso sought to influence changes in national policy and increase discourse beyond the borders of his war-torn nation. This calculated creation of a powerful masterpiece should be examined and appreciated as part of a greater wartime narrative. More importantly, the study of wartime art can be a valuable addition to the professional development of military leaders, generating options for professional dialogue about how societies see the victors, the vanquished, and the value of conflicts through the lens of artists and cultural patrimony…."
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