Although Susan Sontag and many others may believe that art is sacred and should remain that way, the reality is that art is meant to be understood. Art is the epitome of the artist’s thoughts, perspective or feelings of something he wants to express. Sontag discusses art and interpretation, emphasizing that one should stop interpreting a piece of art. Should art be left alone? Should art be enjoyed or is it something that should be admired from afar? Should art be appreciated, or should it not be appreciated because the first inclination of humans is to understand its meaning? Sontag did not address those questions in her writing, despite the fact that they are crucial in terms of the idea of interpretation and where it stands with art. The interpretation of a piece of art is something that Sontag frequently criticizes and says should be avoided; nonetheless, the human natural instinct toward art is interpretation. An instinctive human response is to interpret or provide meaning to what they perceive. For instance, when someone treats them differently or looks at them incorrectly, the first thing the person considers is the meaning behind it. What did the person mean by the tone of their voice or the expression on their face? Although it is impossible to stop humans from interpreting, Sontag insinuates that content is not as important as the form. According to Sontag, form should only be looked at when looking at a work of art and that content should be discarded. Pablo Picasso’s 1937 work Guernica refutes Susan Sontag’s argument that a piece of art’s form should be the only thing taken into account; because Guernica’s shape is unique and challenging to comprehend, content is necessary in order to fully appreciate the piece. When analyzing a work of art, form and content are both important.
One of those cleverly made works of art where you initially don’t grasp what the artist is trying to convey is Guernica (1937). Despite the variations in the drawing styles of the shapes Picasso used the grisaille method, which is a painting technique in which the artist uses monochromatic gray tones to imitate sculpture. In order to create that surreal feeling, he also employed cubism, which combines a variety of figures and shapes with a monochromatic palette to create abstract paintings. The weirdly drawn individuals in Guernica may catch someone’s attention right away; these beings are what make the painting more intriguing because they don’t resemble typical animals or humans. Sontag believes that the best criticism that is given about the art should be descriptive enough that it overshadows the content and turns into a form (8). She believes that form is significant, which is completely contrary to the painting’s meaning. Overall, the picture depicts devastation, deceased humans, animals, and various body parts. If you zoom in on the painting, you can see tiles underlying all of the ruins that depicts the floor or awall in a house. There is also tallying on the painting which usually means keeping a count of something. Two of the images that are displayed shows: one of a lady carrying a deceased child and she cries up to the sky, and another of a woman howling and raising her hands to the sky. The woman is crying out in desperation as what appears to be fire is engulfing her. In addition, there’s a ghostly form that is coming from the door; looks concerned and holding back tears, while the horse next to it looks like it has been scared away. The form of this painting surely is telling the viewers something?
While the painting’s form is intriguing, the content cannot be overlooked. German planes wiped out the Spanish hamlet of Guernica in 1937, inspiring the drawing and naming of Guernica 1937. Picasso didn’t want to directly address the connection between the painting and the bombing because he didn’t want to get involved in the conflicts of politics. Aside from that, the form of the painting makes it difficult to comprehend at first glance, therefore one wouldn’t be able to infer anything from it without trying to figure out the meanings of each figure. People have to deliberately seek out the meanings expressed in the paintings in order to access the content behind them. Sontag states that interpreting a work of art poisons our sensibilities; as in interpreting and trying to translate a work of art will blind us from the importance of form (4). Trying to comprehend what a piece of art means doesn’t necessarily mean that one is trying to translate the original work of art into something. Complicated art like Geurnica does not only need the form but also the content to be understood by the public; if nobody knew the shapes that Picasso drew about, nobody would have understood what the painting was about. The fact that he named the painting after the village that was bombed is what helps lead the viewer into the right direction when it comes to understanding the painting.
Understanding art is about understanding the world view of the artist. The form of Guernica is different from other arts that are presented; it shows the authentic feelings of Picasso. Analyzing the art really closely does not cloud the viewer’s sensibilities, rather it helps them classify what emotions they are feeling when looking at the picture; sadness, agony, and destruction is what rolls off of that painting. Sontag disagrees with too much content and says that content needs to be cut back, but paintings like Guernica show that both content and form together is what helps the viewers understand. Picasso wanted to portray his feelings about the bombings in Guernica, in which he only read and saw what was happening over the newspapers. The thing that stood out the most was the tallying in the ‘tiles’ which is not noticeable unless you look really closely, what is the meaning behind the tallying? Tallying is a way of keeping a count of something, usually deaths or days. What is the significance behind the tallying that Picasso did not make it that obvious and pushed it into the background?
Susan Sontag’s theory of the form being the only important thing when looking at a work of art is disproven by Geurnica, a painting drawn by Pablo Picasso, in which it is shown that both content is as important as the form of the art. Guernica has an interesting form, but that doesn’t mean that the content should be ignored. Guernica is an art that showcases the feelings the artist felt when Guernica, a village in Spain, was bombed; it shows the events that took place in the village and how the people there received the effect of the bombing. It showcases the suffering of the people of Guernica and most importantly it shows the artist’s feelings towards the bombing. To understand all of this, one needs to know the content of the art because the content is the way to know the artist’s intentions and feelings when he was drawing the painting. To understand the view of the artist; there has to be content for the art.
Works Cited
Sontag, Susan. “Against Interpretation.” Against Interpretation, Picador, 1966, pp. 1-
10.
Picasso, Pablo. Guernica 1937, 1937, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid.
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