| Why and how should art be defined broadly but critically? [4] |
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| The final category belongs to the rarest characteristic of art forms: the thread of prophecy. There are works of art produced throughout history that have predicted artistic and social trends. These may acquire historical significance because they contribute to the evolution of art itself. Such masterpieces forecast directions that artists would follow.
Some rare works seem to have also predicted sociopolitical events; e.g. Pablo Picasso's great cubist masterpiece, Guernica, painted in 1937, which depicts the slaughter that results from a new form of warfare, saturation bombing from the air. It also anticipated the horrors of WW II. This compelling and challenging work was for many years on loan to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Picasso, would not allow it to be returned to Spain until the fascist dictatorship was replaced by a democratic form of government. It is now housed in the Reina Sophia Art Center in Madrid. |
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| This enormous work (10'x26'), rendered essentially in black, white, and shades of gray, serves as a frightening visual metaphor for how our technological sophistication can be employed to create devastating havoc and pain. The lack of color implies that the vitality of being alive has been torn out of and drained from these distorted figures. The newspaper-like visual texture leads us to conclude that this work appears to be reporting an actual event: the saturation bombing in April, 1937 of the ancient Basque capitol of Guernica by the Nazi allies of the Royalists during the Spanish Civil War. | ||||||||
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