MELENDRERAS OBREROS DE LA CONSTRUCCION / ALISTATOS EN LOS BATALLONES DE FORTIFICACION. Circa 1939.

39 1/2x28 inches. Graficas Reunidas, Madrid.
Condition A-: repaired tear in top left margin; overpainting in margins.
A gigantic hand with a trowel is stopping the advance of Fascist troops which appear as toy soldiers in the shadow of the worker's tool. This was a clear and powerful way to speak to the workers of Spain, and convince them of their importance in helping the fortification of Madrid. To fight Franco's fascist armies, backed by the military might of Germany and Italy, the Spanish Republicans used posters all throughout the 3 years of their civil war. Designed and posted very quickly many of them reflect the urgency of the moment, in a direct style, conveying a message that would have been immediately understood by those seeing them.
ref: The Palette and the Flame, New York, 1979, International Publishers, p. 29.