Analysis of Unconventional Art World: Guernica and The Jungle

Need help with assignments?

Our qualified writers can create original, plagiarism-free papers in any format you choose (APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, etc.)

Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.

Click Here To Order Now

Artists create new ways of seeing and representing the world through visual perception by defying key features of conventionalism. Artists such as Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973) and Wifredo Lam (1902 – 1982) were central contributors to the unconventional art world throughout the 1900s. Pablo Picasso’s oil painting, ‘Guernica’ (1937), is a politically oriented cubist painting highlighting the artist’s immediate response to the Spanish Nationalist, Fascist Italian, and Nazi German Luftwaffe bombings on Guernica (Northern Spain). Wifredo Lam’s gouache painting, ‘The Jungle’ (1943), challenges the European stereotype that Cuba was an uncivilised island crowded by jungles. Lamb challenges this by producing a surreal artwork that depicts the native people of Cuba in a sugarcane field. Through these particular works, both of these artists produce new ways of seeing and representing the world by defying key features of conventionalism.

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor who was best recognised as one of the co-founders of cubism alongside Georges Braque. Picasso was also famous for being the first living artist to have their works displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris (commonly recognised as the most prestigious art galleries in the world). Arguably his most famous work ‘Guernica’ (1937), as aforementioned, depict the Horrors of War through his cubist representation of the bombing of the town Guernica. The work was commissioned by the Spanish Republic to serve as a memorial-artwork to the town of Guernica. Although this was Picasso’s first Muriel styled artwork, it was not however his first artwork with a disheartened undertone. Some famous works he previously made with sad undertones work ‘Figure dans un Fauteuil’ (Seated Nude, Femme nue assise) (1909-1910) and ‘Woman with Mustard Pot (La Femme au pot de moutarde)’ (1910). In these other works Picasso uses cold sharp lines to produce a depressing emotion. Guernica is different to this as it’s steers clear of cold colours rather it uses only black and white (and tonal greys). Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ (1937) was key in creating new ways of seeing in representing the world.

Wifredo Lam was a Cuban artist who specialised in painting. Lam was fortunate enough to communicate artists that he considered key influences of his works, such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Frida Kahlo (Balderrama, 1992). From these influences, Lam developed a unique distinguished style, which influenced many artists around the world. His works seek to maintain the fading “Afro-Caribbean” culture (Dr. Maria-Reina Bravo, 2018). He is most recognised for his work ‘The Jungle’ (1943) which is on permanent display at the museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Lam’s painting ‘The Jungle’ (1943) depicts native Cubans and African slaves in a sugarcane plantation during the second World War. Retrospectively, the work is often viewed as rather controversial in reference to its subject matter, due to its primitive depiction of people. Some viewers might argue that this served as a form of mockery against a highly unrealistic European stereotype. However, at the time of the artworks creation, there was a significant augmentation of interest in Afro-Cuban culture. Thus, when was contributing to the art world’s apparent interest as well as challenging this European stereotype.

Need help with assignments?

Our qualified writers can create original, plagiarism-free papers in any format you choose (APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, etc.)

Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.

Click Here To Order Now