Spanish
Civil War
Widely
known in Spain as the Civil War, this conflict started in 1936 and ended in 1939, only lasted
3 years, it was between the Republicans and Nationalists. The left wing republicans which consisted of workers,
trade unions, socialists and peasants, usually progressive in nature, they looked to the future, aiming to support those who could not support themselves; Republicans are idealist and believe in
equality. Conversely the Nationalists (right wing) consisted of landowners, employers,
monarchists, the Roman Catholic church and the army; they value; tradition, equity, survival
of the fittest, and economic freedom. The nationalists won the war and Franco then ruled Spain for 36 years from April 1936 until his death in
November 1975.
Economically
the country was hit badly by the Great Depression after the Wall Street Crash, in 1929; the military dictatorship that had ruled Spain since
1923 collapsed and in 1931 the King stepped down after the Republicans came to
power. This followed a period where the two rival parties had periods in power and in 1936 the army rebelled and removed the Republicans from power, which is how
the Civil War began. Both Hitler and Mussolini sent thousands of troops and
weapons to Spain to support the right wing party as they both had similar aims.
The
Spanish Civil War caused a huge refugee crisis which led to millions of people
being displaced in Spain and more then 500,000 in France.
Pablo
Picasso – 'Guernica' and 'The Weeping Women'
Guernica was completed in June 1937, it was painted in a massive palette of grey, black and white using oil paint on canvas and is 349 cm x 776 cm and
stands at 3.49 metres tall.This painting
is known as one of the most moving and powerful anti war paintings in history
as it shows the suffering of people, animals and buildings, wrenched
by violence and chaos. It is a response to the bombing of
Guernica and the painting helped bring worldwide attention to the Spanish Civil
War. In 1937 the Spanish Republicans
commissioned Picasso to create a large mural; Picasso was living in Paris at
the time and he had last visited Spain in 1934 and never returned, however on May
1st after reading George Steer’s eye witness account of the bombing
of Guernica published in both the The Times and New York Times, he abandoned
his initial project and started sketching a series of drawings for Guernica,
which he would complete in June 1937. The Guernica has become a universal and
powerful symbol of the devastation of the war.
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| A limited colour palette has been used, the image is quite abstract this is what I like about the image, it doesn't make much sense so you have to ask yourself questions and create your own answers. |
The Weeping Woman completed in 1937, it was also painted in oil on
canvas and is 60 x 49 cm and was the final of a series, 'The Weeping Woman' series is regarded as a thematic continuation of the tragedy
depicted in Picasso's epic painting Guernica. It has been in the Tate Modern,
London since 1987. Picasso was not painting the effects of the war but referring
to a singular universal image suffering, The model was Dora Marr who worked as
a professional photographer and she was the only photographer allowed to document the stages of
Guernica while Picasso painted the ‘Weeping Women’
 |
| Another Picasso piece of art work, yet again its very abstract this is what I like about it, the colours are very abstract too it relates to the concept. |
The
impact it had on European artists?
In the 1930’s the civil war inspired a generation of artists to
create work that engaged deeply with the issues of their times; more then
40,00 men and women travelled from 53 countries to join the International
Brigades fighting for the Republican cause with around 2500 were from Britain including
Clive Branson, Wogan Phillips and Jason Gurney.
Edward Burra, who had been in Spain at the outbreak of the
war was horrified by the violence and destruction, having witnessed the burning
of a church and he subsequently produced macabre watercolors with an atmosphere
of menace populated by sinister cloaked figures such as “The Watcher”
 |
| This picture is very abstract and realistic, the image is very weird and you have to spend a long time looking at the image to work out what it is. |
The Spanish Civil War was a conflict that united and mobilised
a generation of young writers, poets and artists with intense political favour
against a background of the non-intervention policies of the British and other
European governments. Some
artists took direct action by fighting with the International Brigades in
Spain, others showed their concern for the refugee crisis through their
individual works of art, posters campaigns, banners and billboards.
The
passion, innovation and energy shown from across the artistic community had
never been done before. From the onset of the conflict in
1936 British artists across all styles and movements engaged in relief efforts
and campaigns for Spain using posters, banners, rallies and marches to express
solidarity and generate support. They were inspired by actual events,
humanitarian issues, the imagery of Republican poster design and the innovative
techniques of photomontage. Most of these artists were members of the
left-wing.
Propaganda played a crucial role in the campaigns of both
sides of the Spanish Civil War. The Republican government’s culture and
propaganda ministers mindful for the need of support from outside Spain, and to
counter negative propaganda from the Nationalists, used dynamic revolutionary
style imagery to broadcast their message.
How
artists responded to the Civil War
Artists mostly supported
the Republican side, which had been ejected from power by General Franco, and it is believed that the work of Britain's painters and
sculptors is less well known then the writers.
Artists would try and get to
Spain but they would be denied visas, well known names such as Henry Moore and
Jacob Epstein tried to gain a visa but they couldn’t, it is hard today to think
of any artists trying to enter a dangerous war zone and it is something we
associate more with photo journalism.
Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí is known as
one of the most prolific surrealist painters of the twentieth century, but also
one most influential artist of Spain along with Pablo Picasso.
Sigmund
Freud's writings and Dali's religious Catholic upbringing greatly influenced his art. Through symbolism in his paintings Dalí became one
of the leaders of surrealism. Salvador Dalí and his wife Gala were not without
controversy; they openly supported the dictator of Spain, Francisco Franco
after the Spanish Civil war in 1939. His painting, "Soft Construction with
Boiled Beans" painted in 1936 didn't necessarily portray their support for
the Franco regime but his vehement disdain for war, especially the tumultuous years of the Spanish Civil War Dalí was a great painter, his various pieces of
art sometimes represented his flamboyant and egotistical self. In an interview, Dalí stated "Dalí is immortal and will not die", yet his art
even with his unpopular personality characteristics was still popular
throughout the world. Salvador Dalí died in the town of Figure, Spain from
respiratory complications and heart failure in 1989.
Conscience and Conflict
There has never been a book or exhibition specifically about how the British artists
have engaged with the conflict. The exhibition 'conscience and conflict' brings together material from a range
of sources and in a variety od media, including painting, printmaking, drawing,
posters, banners, photographs and sculptures, to demonstrate the extent to
which artists engaged with a Civil War in 1939, this exhibition, featuring
works that remain moving and arresting so many years after the conflict has
ended, is a testament to the creativity and intention of the artists.
Bibliography
– BBC Bitezise
Wikipedia
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29956558
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/nov/16/conscience-and-conflict-british-artists-spanish-civil-war-review-pallant-house
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