The two paintings I chose were “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso and “The Dove” by Romare Bearden. I chose these two because they seemed the most similar to me. They also caught my attention because of how they both contain many different artistic elements in one painting. Pablo Picasso was born on October 25, 1881 in Malaga, Spain, to the late José Ruiz Blasco (1838 - 1913) and Maria Picasso Y Lopez (1855 - 1939). Pablo began painting around the age of 8, but started taking drawing lessons at the age of 5 in Malaga. At his age, at school, children were expected to draw in a geometric style and add details along the way until the true picture was revealed. These lessons would shape the way Picasso's later work took shape. Along with early education and art instruction, Pablo's father was an art teacher. Pablo's father remained active and supported his son's abilities and artistic talent. He promoted his art in newspapers and also let him go to the school where he taught art, just to ensure that his son would have a better education. Throughout Pablo's life, his father nurtured his art. Pablo's family was wealthy, which allowed his works to be easily seen in exhibitions and galleries. At 16, Pablo was in an institute which he left because he felt like he didn't have everything he needed. Pablo grew into his own style of art. Pablo, Guernica was painted in oil on canvas, 11 feet. 5 ½ in x 25 ft. 5 1/4 inches. This is a narrative work of art whose subject is the Spanish Civil War and suffering. This painting was created after the Spanish Civil War. The painting means a lot because it caused the rest of the world to pay attention to the civil war in Spain. This painting came about because when Picasso or...... middle of paper ......there are some colors but there are still many different scenes in the painting. In this painting there are two animals that some believe are symbols of the people of the town of Guernica and their suffering during the war. The Dove also contains many lines and shows a lot of symbolism of the people and the difficulties they are going through in poverty at the time of their creation. The lines created by the cut-out images help you see where one image stops and another begins. These lines help you understand collage better. There are many things that these two works of art have in common, as well as the fact that they both have more than one image. These works of art are very beautiful to me. I think these are the two best paintings in this entire book. I finally understand what it is to look at art and appreciate it.