Pablo Picasso Horse Head. Sketch for Guernica

Annessa Chan:

Set against a black background, this horse head captures our attention with its intense expression. It seems to be screaming up at the sky, and its tongue juts out like a dagger.

The horse was a recurring subject for Picasso, and here you can see him returning to this motif to address the devastation of war. In 1937, with support from the Franco regime, the Nazis bombed the Spanish town of Guernica, wounding and killing hundreds of civilians. News of the attack swept across Europe, and Picasso was devastated. In response, he began to work on a monumental painting, which would become Guernica. In less than six weeks, Picasso produced nearly fifty preparatory sketches, including at least twelve studies of horses. This is one of those studies. The sketches show Picasso’s creative process and experimentation.

Today, Guernica is one of Picasso’s most famous paintings. It has become a testament to the horrors of war and a symbol for the struggle against fascism.

To learn more about Guernica, you can watch the video behind you.

NARRATOR:

This oil painting by Pablo Picasso, titled ‘Horse Head. Sketch for Guernica’, was created in 1937 and measures sixty-five centimetres in height and ninety-two centimetres in width.

A horse’s head extends from the left towards the centre. It is painted in shades of grey and white, creating a striking contrast with the black backdrop. The horse’s head tilts skyward with an open mouth and a sharp, extended tongue. Depicted in curving lines, its mouth, nose, and teeth appear distorted, as if pulled outward.

The horse faces us in three-quarters view with tiny, round eyes. Pointed ears grow from its angular forehead, while its cheeks are plump and round. Its nose, pointing upward, is broader than its forehead, flaring nostrils four times the size of its eyes. Below the nose is a gaping mouth that occupies half of the horse’s head, which merges with the upper jaw to reveal a sharp, conical tongue. Four teeth protrude from the upper jaw in an overjet, each about the size of half a nostril, while three other teeth jut out from the lower jaw. Delicate white brushstrokes depict fine hairs on the horse’s chin and nose.

The shadows on the horse’s cheeks and neck give the impression that it is looking upward at an overhead light source as it rears back to let out a hysterical, powerful cry.

The artist’s signature is faintly discernible in the upper left corner of the painting.