Introduction

Visual Index (Entire Poster Collection)

Catalogue

Chronology of the War

Acknowledgements

Lists of References

Afterword: Herbert R. Southworth Collection

Apoyo incondicional al gobierno del frente popular

[Unconditional support for the Popular Front government!]. Garay. Ministerio de Instrucción Pública:Dirección General de Bellas Artes:Asociacion de Obreros Litógrapficos, Graficas Reunidas, U.H.P. Lithograph, 3 colors; 101 x 69 cm.

In this poster, two hands support a sign or book bearing the statement: "Unconditional support for the government of the Popular Front." The choice of red reflects the revolutionary character of the Popular Front and was a popular color in the images and symbols of many of the organizations, such as the CNT or UGT, that comprised the leftist political culture of the Republican Spain.

The Ministry of Public Instruction produced the poster early in the civil war in 1936, which makes the theme of supporting the government especially immediate. In the aftermath of the first uprising by disaffected Spanish military officers and royalists, the Republican side of the conflict had to scramble to create unity and cohesion in both the military and the rearguard. Support for the Popular Front government, which had done quite well at the elections in February 1936, a few months before the start of the Civil War, was considered essential to the continued resistance and the hope of victory over the Nationalist forces.

The artist of this poster, Garay, designed other posters during the war, but he is not otherwise known. Jordi Carulla and Arnau Carulla, authors of La Guerra Civil en 2000 Carteles, indicate that the poster was printed in Madrid. Consequently, the poster must have been printed before November 6, 1936 when the government fled Madrid for Valencia in anticipation of a major Nationalist offensive slated to occur November 7.