Pen and paint are mightier

THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Imperial War Museum

FEW wars have stirred the imagination like the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).

At the time and in retrospect, it seemed like a David and Goliath struggle, which David lost. On one side was the Republican government, supported by the working classes and an impressive array of Leftwing intellectuals, many of whom came from abroad to support the cause. On the other were General Franco's Nationalist rebels, supported by the army, Church, rich landowners and industrialists, and, above all, by Mussolini and Hitler.

It was a brutal rehearsal for the Second World War, and it stimulated some fine tragic art. The town of Guernica, immortalised in Picasso's great picture, was the first town to be carpet-bombed.

But technological developments also meant that this was the first war to be comprehensively experienced through photographs. The availability of portable cameras, and of film with fast exposure, made possible the dramatic reportage of Robert Capa. The conflict was also immortalised by writers who fought on the Republican side, such as Orwell, Hemingway and Lorca.

Although the exhibition is crowded and labyrinthine, the exhibits are both fascinating and moving. They range from memorabilia such as General Franco's uniform, letters from combatants and Lorca's effects, to taped testimonies, photographs, films, posters, paintings and sculptures. From Picasso, we have some powerful drawn studies for Guernica, which show agonised horses and mothers; the satirical strip cartoon The Dream and Lie of Franco and the coruscating Weeping Woman.

Less well known but particularly impressive are English artist Edward Burra's Red Cloaked Figure, inspired by the burning of a church in Barcelona, and Javier Bueno's The Spanish Soldier, an iconic, cowled image in the style of Zurbarn. A poster by Ribero Paco shows General Franco in a fur-collared coat surrounded by his victorious troops. Paco transforms him into a debonair Hollywood film star, a Spanish Errol Flynn, and the whole scene is bathed in a treacly glow.

Until 28 April. Tel: 020 7416 5000.

Copyright 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.