Comparing and Contrasting Two Paintings

Two historical oil paintings on canvas, The Raft of Medusa and Guernica, were created by artists from various backgrounds and eras. Theodore Gericault of France began painting The Raft of Medusa in 1818 and finished it in 1819. (1791–1824). The piece of natural art is 491 by 716 cm in size. On the other hand, the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) created Guernica in 1937. The abstract painting is 349 by 776 centimeters in size. The picture is an expression of the social and political perspectives of both artists. The Raft of Medusa is a Romantic painting that depicts the ship wreckage scandal that saw only fifteen people survive out of the 147 that were on the raft, and Guernica expresses the bombing of the peaceful village of Guernica during the Spanish civil war. This essay discusses, compares and contrasts the two paintings.

First, the two artists have employed different stylistic and artistic expressions in representing their subject matter. Gericault, through his painting accounts of the events that took place in the raft after its wreckage. He does this in order to express the devastation and tragic desolation that was felt by the passengers in the raft. Picasso’s painting on the other hand, is a horrifying account of the bombing of the small quiet village of Guernica by the Nazis and the fascists. Picasso made this painting to protest against the brutal attack on the innocent civilians.

Picasso’s art uses cubism. His main interest was the conceptual communication of primitivism and expressionism which he did well by reducing the forms and their geometric properties as well as distorting the real images. He wanted to express his inner feelings and bring out the barbarous acts of the fascist and the Nazis against the civilians. The artist also makes use of color, mainly white and black to bring out certain themes in the work. Black is predominantly used to represent doom. Picasso’s use of the symbols of horse and bull in his painting was influence by his culture as the two animals are important in the culture of the Spaniards.

In contrast, Gericault uses impressionism as a stylistic approach to create a more realistic impression of the scene and to capture the events that took place in the raft. His art is shaped from real cadavers as he tries to reconcile art and reality. The artist’s compositional approach includes the use of diagonal lines that form a distinct pyramid shape so as to direct a viewer to the man at the top right corner waving a flag. This signifies hope. The artist has also utilized color contrast to capture the tone of the painting with light color representing hope and dark representing doom.

Although the two images were painted at different times in history, they do connect as they are both based on real tragic events. Both artists use a great deal of symbolism to relay their messages. For instance, the minotaur in Picasso’s represents the beastly side of man. It represents brutality and destruction by the fascist bombers, and the wounded horse represents the suffering of the innocent civilians. Moreover, the images of wailing people and of deformed bodies serves to show the suffering and agony felt by the people. Symbolism in The Raft of Medusa is depicted by use of colors. The dark colors in the foreground represents death and hopelessness while the light colors near the horizon symbolizes hope. The man at the top right corner waving a flag and the characters outstretching their arms also signify surging hopefulness. All in all, both artists manage to create a picture of a world on the verge of collapse in their works.