Picasso’s Guernica in 3D

Gonna bring a little high-brow stuff to the proceedings this morning and take a look at this remarkable animation of an equally remarkable work of art. Picasso’s Guernica is one of my favorite paintings (a reproduction hangs in my living room) so I found this 3D ‘exploration’ particularly stunning and as an example of computer animation, brilliantly executed. Created as part of a Master in 3D computer Animation thesis at the University of Georgia by animator Lena Gieseke several years ago, the short movie adds an entire new dimension (three actually) to the masterpiece.

When I was in art school, Guernica was standard issue in art history class, and while I was never a huge fan of abstract art as a genre (one of the reasons I went with commercial design I suppose), Picasso’s masterpiece always resonated with me for the story it told. The painting depicts the bombing of Spanish town of Guernica by German and Italian warplanes during the Spanish Civil War and was commissioned by The Spanish Republican government for the Spanish display at the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris. Many people mistakenly believe that the painting can be found at the entrance of the United Nations Security Council in NYC, but that is a tapestry version of the 11 ft tall and 25.6 ft oil painting. The original canvas can be found at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid where it remains a powerful an anti-war symbol now as it did then (when the painting was originally completed, it went on a world ‘tour’ and helped bring worldwide attention to the Spanish Civil War).

For more on the 3D animation, you can visit Lena Gieseke’s website. For more on Guernica you can take a gander at this Treasures of the World page over at the PBS website.

“What’s all of this have to do with logo design?” you ask. Nothing. Nothing at all. Just something arty & cool for this blustery Thursday morning.

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