The Bull (Le taureau) 1945

Pablo Picasso made this lithograph called "The Bull" with tusche and transfer paper. It encapsulates some of his most interesting ideas about art and representation. Picasso was a Spaniard who spent most of his adult life in France. The bull is a national symbol of Spain, so this is a culturally loaded image. In the context of the mid-20th century, the image can be interpreted as political. Spain was under the dictatorship of Franco, so the bull, as a symbol of Spanish identity, was used in propaganda. Picasso was against the regime and lived in exile in France. One way to think about this image is that it's a commentary on the ways institutions and the state can control imagery. In the 1930s, he was appointed director of the Prado Museum in exile. This image speaks to a deep engagement with institutional frameworks. To understand the meaning of art, we must consider social and institutional contexts, like the artist's biography and their nation's political history.