Josep Renau
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Josep Renau Berenguer (17 May 1907 — 11 November 1982) was an artist and communist revolutionary, notable for his propaganda work during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. Among his production, he is remarkable for his art deco period, his political propaganda during the Spanish Civil War, the photomurals of the Spanish Pavilion in the International Exhibition of 1937 in Paris, a series of photomontages titled ''Fata Morgana'' or ''The American Way of Life'', and murals and paintings made in Mexico, such as '' Tropic'', dated in 1945.


Biography

He was the son of José Renau Montoro, a drawing teacher at the San Carlos School of Fine Arts in
Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
, where he studied between 1919 and 1925. He alternated his studies with his work at Litografía D’Ortega, where he learned the
lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
's trade, which would later allow him to create a series of
art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
style watercolors that he presented at the National Exhibition in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
in December 1928. He also worked as a photographer and
muralist A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
. Renau was a member of the
Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...
since 1931 and became the founder of the Union of Proletarian Writers and Artists in 1932. His work began to take off with posters published to support the Republic during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. In September 1932 he married the painter Manuela Ballester. During that period, he was a professor of Fine Arts at the
University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...
and president of the Board of the Pedagogical Missions. He was also graphic editor of the Valencia-based '' Orto'' magazine between 1932 and 1934. In 1935, he and other left-wing Spanish Marxist intellectuals founded the magazine ''Nueva Cultura,'' which would remain active until 1937. In September 1936, he was named general director of Fine Arts. In this period, he commissioned Pablo Ruiz Picasso in 1937 to create a work for the Pavilion of the Spanish Republic at the International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, which would result in ''
Guernica Guernica (, ), officially Gernika () in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo ...
''. Likewise, he made a series of
photomontages Photomontage is the process and the result of making a compositing, composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. Sometimes the resulting Compositing#Physical compositing, composite ...
for the Pavilion. As part of his action as general director, he also created the National Orchestra of Spain and made the decision to transfer part of the
Prado Museum The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on ...
's masterpieces to the
Torres de Serranos The Serrans Gate or Serranos Gate (, ; , ), also known as Serrans Towers or Serranos Towers (, ; , ) is one of the twelve gates that formed part of the ancient city wall, the Christian Wall (''Muralla cristiana''), of the city of Valencia, ...
in Valencia to save them from the bombings of Madrid. He later organized for the pieces to be transferred to Switzerland. He held the position until the end of the war in 1939. At the end of the war, he went to France and was interned in the Argelès-sur-Mer concentration camp. In the same year, he obtained a visa to move to Mexico, where he worked for Spanish magazines in exile, continued designing posters for films, and collaborated with the well-known Mexican muralist
David Alfaro Siqueiros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...
. The murals at the Casino de la Selvain Cuernavaca, commissioned by Manuel Suárez y Suárez, date from this period. In 1958, he left Mexico to settle in
East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
, capital of the German Democratic Republic. There he created murals and photomontages such as ''Fata Morgana USA'' (1967) and ''The American Way of Life'' (1977). Benefiting from the general amnesty of 1976, he returned to Spain, later returning to Berlin, where he died in 1982. His funds were bequeathed to the Valencian Institute of Modern Art.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renau, Josep 1907 births 1982 deaths Spanish artists Immigrants to East Germany Spanish emigrants Exiles of the Spanish Civil War