Throughout history, art has been a tool for many to express themselves and the events surrounding them. The works of great artists are not only personal, but revolutionary. On occasion, paintings can influence the spectator, for better or worse. Artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and those who designed world war one propaganda, demonstrate their views and worldly perceptions to change others. Picasso’s Guernica shows the brutalities of war, as propaganda tried to hide it. Kahlo paints her life as a mexican women imposed with Western culture in Las Dos Fridas, while street art gives a loud and accessible message to those who come across it. All these examples exemplify real occurrences, that were published and used as a front for mainstream …show more content…
Pablo Picasso paints these repercussions in his art piece Guernica. Inspired by the bombing of the paintings title, Picasso shows the fear and real tragedy of war. During World War II (WWII), Francisco Franco, “sent planes, tanks and troops into Spain in support of the Spanish generals… who were attempting to overthrow that country’s popularly elected government.” Then, on April 26th 1937, the town was bombed. Businesses, innocent civilians and their homes were killed and destroyed mercilessly. This attack was the first of its kind, large-scale and intentional against a non-military target (Martin 38). Within the painting are men, women and children suffering during the attack. Each painted figure is positioned in a way of protest. Perhaps the most shocking image is a mother cradling her dead child in her arms. The flaming buildings show the destruction of Guernica and the disastrous outcomes of war. A black and white color scheme exemplify the bleakness of the attacks. It was all of these dramatic attributes that lead to the popularity and power of the painting years later. Globally, Guernica, “spoke not specifically to a terrible day in Spain. Rather… the horrors that humans have visited on each other for millennia, and because of this the painting began to symbolise the reality of every war remarkably soon after its creation” (Martin 38). Picasso's painting universally speaks to anyone, because war is something that may always happen. It serves as a warning to what human aggression may lead too. To many Americans, the tragedy of 9/11 is the closest they have ever been to war like violence. Although this lead to anti-terrorism movements in the west, it furthered the installation of negative stereotypes towards muslims and their religion. Lila Abu-Lughod, an advocate for women’s issues in the Middle East points out that, “We should ask not how Muslim societies are distinguished from “our own” but