For Mark Harris' study of the ink drawing go to: Mark Harris, Picasso's Unknown Masterpiece.

Black forms for eyes are found near the center in both works: the 1934 ink drawing has the black eye of Odin plus a skull's black eye near the center both identified by Harris. The 1937 Guernica has two black eyes near the center: one is the gash in the horse which is Hitler's eye and Goering's mouth, one forms the cockpit eyes of Goering as well as the mustache of Hitler. See my Hitler and Goering illustrations on pages 23 and 24.

A cross is found in both works: the 1934 work has a Christ-like figure at top (a cross) cited by Harris. The 1937 Guernica has a Sword of Damocles (a cross). See my pages 2 and 3 for the illustration of Perseus's huge sword which also acts as the Sword of Damocles (my pages 50 and 51).

A bird's beak is found in both works: The 1934 ink drawing has a skull with a square black eye at center, then ascending from the central skull's eye we find an Odin head with one eye. Superimposed onto Odin's head we find one of Odin's birds with beak, then ascending from Odin we find the Christ-like figure with spread arms. An open bird's beak (illustrated at bottom of my page 24) is found in Guernica at bottom center next to the tiny flower. The Guernica severed bird's beak rests in its severed bird's claw. The 1934 ink drawing findings were made by Mark Harris.

Harris found that Frankenstein and Hitler amorphous partial-caricatures merge when the 1934 work is viewed upside-down; Hitler and Goering partial-caricatures merge in the 1937 work when the work is seen sideways. To see Hitler stand the 1937 work on end with the burning woman at bottom. To see Goering stand the work on end with the woman with baby at bottom. Hitler and Goering share the spear-shaft Pinocchio nose. See my pages 23 and 24 for the illustrations of Hitler and Goering.

A fish shape is in both works. Guernica has a small fish shape at the base of the horse's tail. Harris noted that the 1934 ink drawing has a large fish shape in the woman's torso on the right side of the drawing. The white fish shape forms the lower half of the woman, its tail at bottom, its pointed head ending just above the woman's wrist.

Both works have a bull and a horse or horse's-head shape. In Guernica the large bull and large horse are evident. In the 1934 work both shapes are amorphous, but can be discerned. In the 1934 work the amorphous woman on the left has her head hanging over the horns of the bull. She has two torsos, one grounded, another hanging from the bull's horns and superimposed over the dark bull's head. The bull stretches across the painting, amorphous yes, but there absolutely*. The amorphous front legs are in the black space below the amorphous bull's head while the bull's hind legs are evoked by the woman's legs seen on the far right of the work. A vertical horse's head identified by Mark Harris can be seen just is front of the woman on the right. The horse's eye is just in front of the woman's pointed nose. The woman appears to be feeding the horse.

* In the 1934 ink drawing Erica Harris discovered the large amorphous bull with a woman over its horns.

In Guernica a bird's severed head with open beak located by the small flower is used to evoke Franco. The small flower at bottom in Guernica would seem to represent a rebirth of representative government following a hoped-for defeat of Franco. Resting on a severed bird's claw Franco's severed bird's head is by the tiny flower. See my illustration at bottom of page 24 for Franco's severed head. Also the Guernica central black form below the lamp is in the shape of Franco’s banner seen in Picasso’s January 1937 The Dream and Lie of Franco. Thus the black form at center of Guernica comes directly from The Dream and Lie of Franco.* Also the large phallic symbols drawn on the planted leg of Guernica’s kneeling woman ( 4th paragraph my page 22 ) derive from the large phallus in The Dream and Lie of Franco. Further, the speared Guernica horse comes directly from the speared horse in The Dream and Lie of Franco.

* See my page 44, 2d edition. The flag shape in The Dream and Lie of Franco originally came from Goya's The Burial of the Sardine. Thus, Goya was very much in Picasso's mind as he painted Guernica.

Summary: At Guernica’s center it all comes together: In the body of the horse Hitler and Goering (my pages 23 and 24) are gored by a bull’s head found below the horse (my page 123) , Mussolini with a black point stuck in his head forms the derriere of the kneeling woman (my pages 22 and 24), and Franco is beheaded and his head is next to the flower by the horse’s downed knee. Franco’s banner from The Dream and Lie of Franco is in Guernica near dead center as Hitler’s black mustache and as Goering’s black cockpit eyes.

Mel Becraft
5 Feb 2016