Guernica by Pablo Picasso

This week the mosaic piece advanced a lot. The clouds and the Atlantic Ocean are covered with vitreous tiles. I am going to work on the face next and the famous rock form of the island; "Roque Nublo". I guess next week the figure will build more...

"Over the clouds" work on progress

This week I applied another layer to the oil painting. It needs lots of work still. I think with patience it will come out nicely. Yesterday I was close to the beach; I looked at the details of the rock forms with my naked eye. Working only with the photo might easily fool you in many occasions, the best reference is your own eyes always.

"The immortal Wallpaper (Burrero beach) work on progress

I started to drawing sessions with the sketching the composition first on The Stonehange drawing paper. It is hard to see the drawing clearly at this stage. I am going to surprise you with a surreal and symbolist composition this time. Even though the idea of combining human faces with animals has been done so many times since medieval times perhaps... I think Canarian artists didn't use this idea with their own animals and landscapes. What makes you a unique artist is "if you could bring out something new from your own territory." This phrase is mine by the way. Look at Picasso's paintings and you will understand what I mean…

"Lagarta Gigante en la Cumbre" work on progress

First time I saw the original of this painting in 1991, I was travelling with Interrail in Europe by myself. I came to Madrid and visited Prado Museum. This huge painting was protected with a glass screen and so you couldn't get closer a meter or two to see it. A year later they moved it to Reina Sofia Modern Art Museum where you can see it very closely today.

Guernica at Prado Museum (til 1992) Madrid, Spain

Guernica in Reina Sofia Modern Art Museum , Madrid, Spain

A little bit Spanish art history for you. Here is the brief info about "Guernica" the world famous painting of Pablo Picasso. It was Guernica is a town in Basque Country in Spain. During the Spanish Civil War, it was regarded as the northern bastion of the Republican resistance movement and the epicenter of Basque culture, adding to its significance as a target.

At about 16:30 on Monday, 26 April 1937, warplanes of the German Condor Legion, commanded by Colonel Wolfram von Richthofen, bombed Guernica for about two hours. Germany, at this time led by Hitler, had lent material support to the Nationalists and was using the war as an opportunity to test out new weapons and tactics. Later, intense aerial bombardment became a crucial preliminary step in the Blitzkrieg tactic.

After the bombing, Picasso was made aware of what had gone on in his country of origin. At the time, he was working on a mural for the Paris Exhibition to be held in the summer of 1937, commissioned by the Spanish Republican government. He deserted his original idea and on 1 May 1937, began on Guernica. This captivated his imagination unlike his previous idea, on which he had been working somewhat dispassionately, for a couple of months. It is interesting to note, however, that at its unveiling at the Paris Exhibition that summer, it garnered little attention. It would later attain its power as such a potent symbol of the destruction of war on innocent lives.

Guernica by Pablo Picasso, big size image click on to see

This week's muse is an old time favourite of mine, Marc Ribot. He used play with The Lounge Lizards. I used to have a video recording one of his solo concerts in Knitting Factory, New York from the late 90's. I did an exchange with my Lounge Lizards concert record with a fan. Unfortunately, this recorded video tape got lost during our moving process to Spain by US Postal Service along with few important recordings. But thanks god that I did back up of some of them to DVD's... The song is called "For Malena" from the album "Party Intellectuals" by Marc Ribot. Enjoy it!  Please don't forget to put your comments below and please share this post with your fb, Twitter friends, tnx in advance... 

Have a great week!

"For Malena" from the album "Party Intellectuals" by Marc Ribot

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