War rages on in the Ukraine and in the Middle East, and across hot spots around the globe. It is estimated that, last year, war killed nearly a quarter of a million people. It is also estimated that it cost the world economy $17.5 trillion or 12.9% of global GDP. At any time, half the world is ensnarled in some kind of conflict. Can art teach us anything about the barbarity — and the sheer wastefulness — of war?War is distinctly a human activity. No species on earth kills as often as man. Humans are physically weak in comparison to animals but have an advanced mind that has created nuclear weapons that can blow the planet to smithereens. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, thought war strips society of its civilized effects and causes humans to regress and become primitive again. He felt war is in man's DNA and violence came naturally to him.Art is a human activity as well. Here though, the artist attempts to understand the nature and character of war and its impact on society. The artist looks to depict its raw brutality, capture human suffering and reflects on its consequences to communicate something about war that cannot be put into words..Pablo Picasso was at the height of his fame when on April 26 1937, Hitler chose the town of Guernica in Spain to use for bombing practice. After hours of endless bombing, the town was decimated, with a third of the population, most of whom were women and children, dead.Picasso had spent months staring at a blank canvas producing nothing and the merciless bombing of Guernica, inspired him to create a painting that became the greatest anti-war statement in history. According to art critic Robert Hughes, “It was the last modern painting of major importance that took its subject from politics with the intention of changing the way large numbers of people thought about power.” The large mural was entitled Guernica and depicts with great intensity the confusion, chaos and horror of war.In the painting, there is a bull representing the onslaught of fascism and the horse is the symbol for the people of Guernica. On the far left a mother is in agony holding her dead child; a soldier lies in pieces and a burning woman pleads to God. His figures are strewn about screaming in pain, as there is no escape from hell. Picasso said," We all know that art is not truth; art is a lie that makes us realize the truth."Although Picasso painted Guernica for the Spanish people, the painting itself sat in the Museum of Modern Art in New York from the beginning of World War II until 1981. Guernica toured the world but was not allowed to be displayed in Spain until Picasso felt that “public liberties and democratic institutions” had returned to his native country.Spanish dictator General Franco hated Picasso, but after he died and Spain formed a democratic government, Guernica was returned to Spain. Picasso’s apocalyptic vision of the consequences of tyranny and war helped change society by making people aware of the lasting damage corrupt power-hungry leaders can wreak.Another famous painting that became iconic for its depiction of the horrors of war is Francisco Goya's The Third of May 1808.Napoleon had seized Spain and a band of Spanish loyalists attempted to retake power in Madrid but failed. French troops arrested hundreds of suspected rebels and marshaled them off to the outskirts of the city to be shot. Goya depicts the most terrifying part of war when people are stripped of their identities and humanity in the face of death.In the painting, the rebels face a mechanical arrangement of faceless, efficient soldiers whose backs are turned and kill everyone without any emotion. Just as in the gas chambers of the Holocaust, everyone was simply following orders, no questions asked.The central figure in the painting with his outstretched arms is reminiscent of Christ on the cross asking God why have you forsaken me? On the figure's hand is a wound similar to Christ's stigmata. There is no sentimentality in the painting as bodies lie in blood, a monk prays and people cover their faces in fear. Goya depicts the blood lust of war and states there are no heroes. We are victims and oppressors all at the same time.The Spanish government had hired Goya to memorialize and celebrate Spain. What they got instead was a subversive work of art that condemned war no matter who was waging it and for whatever reason. Goya’s motto was “Yo lo vi” meaning "I saw it." He experienced one of the most violent periods in modern European history and could not do anything about it but recreate its truths and put them on canvas.According to historian Yuval Noah Harari, war and conflict is increasing around the world. He states that in the first part of the 21st century “thanks to the global liberal order humanity experienced the most peaceful and prosperous era in history. That era is now over.” The era of peace, according to Harari, saw nations reduce their military spending and money saved spent on education and healthcare. Today nations are again investing greater amounts of their GDP in military armaments.The world today looks a lot like it did in the years before the First World War, when Germany was building up its navy while Great Britain was in decline.But now, China has the largest navy in the world and the largest share of global GDP and it is America's economic capacity that is shrinking, even as the Americans scramble to form alliances to contain China's expansion. For the first time since the Second World War the US faces a rival that has the potential to replace it.In sum, art teaches us to listen, to observe, not jump to conclusions, but to seek out understanding.At its core art expresses the need to do away with the Hammurabi code of an eye-for-an-eye that has ruled humanity for thousands of years and instead see the colours of the rainbow and what the other side is saying.Art reminds everyone war is not a series of videos showing tanks and helicopters being blown up on the nightly news as if in a video game. There are real human beings, made of flesh and bone, who are being killed. Harari believes “we are sliding back to the jungle” and warns, “We must not forget our secret to success is cooperation.”Without cooperation, the human species is doomed.
