Pablo Picasso Like You’ve Never Seen Before

I was first exposed to Picasso’s famous painting, Guernica, when I was attending University and studying art history. As if the story of the Spanish Civil War in 1937 wasn’t sad enough, seeing Picasso’s interpretation is, to me, pain and suffering (which are the essence of war) personified.

I had a very emotional and personal reaction the first time I saw this painting. Those images have been very neatly tucked away in the corners of my mind until yesterday when @KarenMcDade sent a tweet that brought it all back to the present moment.

The insanely talented artist, Lena Gieseke, has created a 3D exploration of Picasso’s Guernica (see the video below). She was inspired to create a 3D version of a piece of artwork after putting together jigsaw puzzles. When you assemble a puzzle, your eye notices details you might otherwise miss. You are forced to look at a picture a different way, you get a new perspective.

This video, which is very rare interpretation of Picasso’s Guernica, is similar in that it provides a completely new way of looking at the artwork itself, and in doing so, creates a new flood of unique feelings surrounding that brutal event that took place in 1937. I know for me, I see details in this interpretation that I have never noticed in the painting itself. I have a new appreciation for the original Guernica.

Lena asks, “Is my model a true reconstruction of the Picasso’s painting, or is it merely a rough re-visualization? Is it still Picasso’s art or has it, through my addition of third dimension, become something completely different? It is not my place to answer those questions nor to determine the relationship between my three-dimensional reproduction and the original painting. Perhaps this is a question best left in the hands of critics.”

I don’t know the answers to these questions either; all I know is that this takes my breath away. You can learn more about Lena and her experiences by visiting https://www.lena-gieseke.com.