# Spanish Civil War Poster

> The poster war waged by the Spanish Republic, its unions and its anarchist, communist and socialist parties against Franco's uprising. Unionised commercial artists painted gouache designs that lithographers split onto three or four zinc plates, so foreshortened militiamen, peasants and fists burst from flat red-and-black fields under stacked hand-lettered slogans and party acronyms. Renau's photomontage, Deco polish, caricature and Miró's stencil coexisted.

- Period: 1936–1939
- Where: Southern Europe
- Origin: Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia: the unionised artists of the Sindicat de Dibuixants Professionals, trade unions, parties and Republican ministries
- Branch: Pictorial & machine age
- Also known as: Cartelismo de la Guerra Civil, Cartells de la Guerra Civil, Republican and anarchist war posters
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/spanish-civil-war-poster/

## How it works

- Paint the design in gouache, then print it in three or four flat lithographic colours with airbrushed transitions.
- Lead with red and black; split the sheet on a diagonal for anarchist posters and add the Republic's yellow and purple for the state.
- Foreshorten a single militiaman, peasant or fist so that it bursts out of the frame towards the viewer.
- Stack the slogan in heavy hand-drawn condensed capitals at top and bottom, in Castilian or Catalan.
- Treat union and party acronyms (CNT-FAI, UGT, POUM, PSUC) as logotypes that sign the poster.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Diagonal axis](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/diagonal-axis/) (defining)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (characteristic)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Single focal point](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/single-focal-point/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Illusion of depth](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/illusion-of-depth/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Condensed display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/condensed-display/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric sans](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-sans/) (occasional)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (defining)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (characteristic)
- [Earth & mineral](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/earth-and-mineral/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (defining)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (characteristic)
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (occasional)
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (characteristic)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (defining)
- [Photomontage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photomontage/) (occasional)
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Lithography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lithography/) (defining)

### Tone & intent
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (defining)
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (characteristic)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (characteristic)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Authoritative & institutional](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/authoritative-and-institutional/) (occasional)

Avoids: Abundant decoration, Floral & vegetal, Whiplash line, Luxurious & glamorous, Calm & contemplative, Modular grid, Generous white space, Lowercase only

Palette: #d1281f, #141414, #efe3c6, #f1b52f, #5f2b6b, #8f8256

Typefaces: Hand-drawn condensed grotesque capitals (cartelista lettering), Brush-painted slogan lettering in Castilian and Catalan, Art Deco geometric display lettering from pre-war commercial posters

Known for: Carles Fontserè, Llibertat! (1936, colour lithograph: a peasant with a sickle against the red-and-black flag); Josep Renau, photomontage posters as Director General of Fine Arts (1936–39) and photomurals for the Spanish Pavilion, Paris (1937); Joan Miró, Aidez l'Espagne (1937, pochoir for Cahiers d'Art); Arturo Ballester, CNT-FAI posters (1936–37); Helios Gómez; Sindicat de Dibuixants Professionals, Barcelona (founded 1936)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Art Deco](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-deco.md) (1910–1939)
- Influenced by: [Russian Constructivism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/constructivism.md) (1917–1934)
- Influenced by: [Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/socialist-realism.md) (1932–1989)
- Influenced by: [Dada](https://stylogeny.com/styles/dada.md) (1916–1924)
- Influenced by: [Surrealist Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/surrealism.md) (1924–1960)
- Alike in its design choices: [Hungarian Revolutionary Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hungarian-activist-poster.md) (1912–1919), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Ethiopian Revolutionary Poster (Derg Era)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ethiopian-revolutionary-poster.md) (1974–1991), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Italian Fascist Graphics (Romanità & Exhibition Photomontage)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/italian-fascist-graphics.md) (1921–1943), 69% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Vietnamese Propaganda Poster (Tranh cổ động)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vietnamese-propaganda-poster.md) (1945–present), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Hebrew Poster Lettering & Early Israeli State Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/israeli-state-modernism.md) (1934–1974), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Belle Époque Lithographic Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/belle-epoque-poster.md) (1866–1914), 66% alike

## Real works

- [Campesino, defiende con las armas al gobierno que te dió la tierra](https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb80213658): Josep Renau, 1936, UC San Diego Library, Southworth Spanish Civil War Collection
- [Al front! (CNT-FAI)](https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb0103205v): Carles Fontserè, 1936–37, UC San Diego Library, Southworth Spanish Civil War Collection
- [Un marino: un héroe (CNT, AIT)](https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb97619944): Arturo Ballester, 1936–39, UC San Diego Library, Southworth Spanish Civil War Collection
- [U.G.T. Treballadors: ha estat creat l'exèrcit del poble! Tot per l'exèrcit regular que serà l'exèrcit de la victòria](https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53159014b): Unsigned (Comissió d'Agitació i Propaganda, UGT), 1936, Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica)
- [Diada internacional de la dona antifeixista: Catalans! Assistiu al gran acte](https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53159065v): Unsigned (Sindicat de Dibuixants Professionals, UGT), 1937, Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica)

## Sources

- UC San Diego Library, Southworth Spanish Civil War Collection, poster visual index (library.ucsd.edu/speccoll/visfront)
- Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, 'How posters were produced' (Carles Fontserè's account)
- Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, collection record: Carles Fontserè, Llibertat! (1936)
- Miriam M. Basilio, Visual Propaganda, Exhibitions, and the Spanish Civil War (Ashgate, 2013)

---

From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Spanish Civil War Poster”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/spanish-civil-war-poster/