Josep Renau. An Art for the People

Abstract

In this paper we aim a theoretical and critical approach to the work of the Valencian artist Josep Renau Berenguer who, after being in important positions during the Second Republic in Spain, was forced into exile in Mexico and then in German communist Berlin. This itinerary already deserves justified attention, as does its enormous artistic production, due to the impact and resonance they have, not only in the face of the past, to elaborate the collective memory of the history of the twentieth century, but also with a view to a present and future where the War rhetoric of the great powers is increasing. There are three different stages in his professional evolution of this poster artist and photoeditor, who knew well the formal and plastic avant-garde techniques. In the first, before the outbreak of the war of 36, he produces his manifesto “The social function of the poster”, where he reflects on the pedagogical intention of it. The second stage, Mexican, is characterized by the collaboration with Siqueiros in large political murals. And finally, the third unveils the masterpiece of his life The American Way of Life, which he would finish in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Germany.