The Visual Front: Posters of the Spanish Civil War from UCSD's Southworth Collection

Introduction

Visual Index (Entire Poster Collection)

Catalogue

Chronology of the War

Acknowledgements

Lists of References

Afterword: Herbert R. Southworth Collection


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Por el orden republicano! Respectad la propriedad de los pequeñoscomerciantes é industriales

[For order in the Republic! Respect the property of small businesses and industries]. Antonio Bisquert. Ministerio de Instrucción Pública: Dirección Gral. de Bellas Artes Lithograph, 3 colors; 101 x 70 cm

In this image, order in Republican Spain is attached to functioning economic interactions. The symbiotic relationship between industry and small retail stores is emphasized by two arrows that join the factory and the store in a circular relationship. The viewer is admonished to "respect the property of small business and industries." As mentioned in relation to poster 30 in this exhibit, theft or attacks on private property were common occurrences during the war. In some cases, theft resulted simply from those who used the setting of war as an excuse to loot and pillage. Most likely, the poster is intended to address those people interested in more organized efforts at social reform such as the collectivization of industry and the abolition of private property all together. This poster suggests that the Republican government, at that time (c. 1937), supported some forms of private property and small businesses.

This painting was produced by the Ministry of Public Instruction one of the Republican government's organs of propaganda during the war. The author is Antonio Bisquert Pérez. Bisquert was born in 1906 and studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia (School of Fine Arts at San Carlos de Valencia). At this school, Bisquert met many prominent Spanish avant-garde artists including José Renau. After school, Bisquert took a position as a restorer of paintings in Madrid and was able to make contact with international avant-garde artists through his studies in Belgium, Holland, and Germany. During the Civil War, Bisquert worked for the Alianza de Intelectuales y Artistas Antifascists (Alliance of Antifascist Intellectuals and Artists). In addition to making posters, Bisquert also collaborated with his friend José Renau on submissions to the periodical Verdad, which Renau edited. During the war, Bisquert received a national award for this poster. After the defeat of the Republicans by the Nationalists, the Comisión de Depuraciones (Commission of Purgation) barred Bisquert from returning to his conservation and restoration work in Madrid. Consequently, he began painting portraits. Bisquert died in 1990.

 
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