Spanish Civil War posters

The collection includes more than 250 pro-Republican, anti-Fascist posters produced in the course of the Spanish Civil War, created from 1936-1938. Many were produced by artists in the Spanish Artists’ Union (SPBA), and much of their imagery and design reflects the influence of contemporary artistic movements, making these works of propaganda doubly interesting. The posters, in Spanish or Catalan, proclaimed support for a variety of groups in the Republican camp, from its armed forces and allied International Brigades of foreign volunteers, to trade unions, leftist movements, youth groups, support organizations for wounded veterans, and of course, institutions of the Republican government. Their necessity stemmed from the difficulty in communicating the Republican message through traditional media in the midst of war-torn Spain. This collection originated in posters sent or brought home by members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, the all-American volunteer component of the International Brigades. The soldiers of the Lincoln Brigade, often poorly trained, but deeply committed to the anti-Fascist cause, fought in the conflict from early 1937 until being withdrawn in late 1938.