Janine Davies

The French Revolution

             On June seventeenth, 1789, the Third Estate reformed itself as the National Assembly to address tax inequality and end the monarchy's autocratic rule.[1] They enacted the Abolition of Feudalism Act on August fourth, 1789, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen on August twenty-fourth, 1789.[2] By 1791, France had established a constitutional monarchy, nationalised the Catholic Church, and set up a unicameral political system.[3] However, the monarchy resisted these changes, and the Assembly's divisive policies further split France into opposing factions.[4] Propaganda and artwork were extensively utilised throughout the Revolution. Notably, the Reign of Terror, 1793-1794 provides a representative example of how art functioned as a propaganda.

              At the heart of the revolution were the Bourgeoisie, which consisted of artists, poets, sculptors, doctors and teachers. They were highly active in creating propaganda through many mediums. An intriguing approach by artist Jacques Coissieux involved creating a playing card design. The sixteen images depict the law as aces, genius as kings, liberties as queens, and equalities as knaves. Each card reflects the objectives and alleged accomplishments of the French Revolution, including the restoration of French nationality and social equality (fig. 1).[5]

             To support the revolutionary cause, the National Convention allocated fifty million livres to the Committee of Public Safety for special expenses. Many of these funds were employed to cultivate and bolster the revolutionary spirit and public opinion, essential for sustaining the Revolution.[6] Notably, four artists occupied the benches of the National Convention, among them, the renowned artist Jacques-Louis David, who was to emerge as a leading figure producing propaganda during the Reign of Terror.[7]  By painting, drawing anti-English caricatures, and designing costumes for his Revolutionary Festivals, David seamlessly integrated his art with his political agenda to maximise the impact of revolutionary propaganda.[8]  As a steadfast ally of Jean-Paul Marat, a former physician and scientist, David supported his efforts in spreading revolutionary ideologies through Marat’s newspaper, L'Ami du Peuple [The Friend of the People], which began publication in September 1789.[9] However, on July thirteenth, 1793, the life of Jean-Paul Marat was tragically cut short by his assassination at the hands of Charlotte Corday, a devoted supporter of the Girondins.[10] Formerly united as allies within the Jacobin club, the Girondins and the Montagnards eventually found themselves in disagreement over significant issues. In April, the Girondins charged the Montagnard journalist Jean-Paul Marat with treason, bringing him to trial. This proved to be a grave miscalculation, as the court swiftly acquitted Marat, and the Convention subsequently expelled the Girondin deputies.[11] Corday, who shared the belief that Marat was accountable for the Revolution's errors and violence, killed him in his bathtub, justifying herself by stating she wished to sacrifice herself for her country.[12] After her death, the Girondin saw her as a martyr, as the Montagnards regarded Marat. Her death was produced in propaganda etchings, and is an example of how news could be reproduced quickly and economically in relaying what transpired. (fig. 2).[13]

             Marat's death was met with steadfast resolve and immediately served as a catalyst for the production of more prolific and widespread propaganda. L'Ami du Peuple was one such artwork depicting Marat crowned with stars and dressed in the colours of the revolutionaries (fig. 3).[14] Marat was seen as a hero and martyr by the Jacobins, and his death inspired his close friend David to produce one of the most iconic pieces of French Revolutionary art. The Death of Marat, 1793, Was painted in the Neo-Classical style David was renowned for (fig. 4).[15] The painting is full of symbolism, designed to present Marat as both a victim and a martyr. The dark background accentuates Marat's pale, lifeless body, drawing immediate attention to him. He is depicted holding a letter offering financial assistance to a war widow. Although no such letter was found, David may have included it to highlight Marat's empathy and commitment to the revolutionary cause and its victims.[16] The connection of the knife on the floor next to his quill, illustrates the contrasting tools of war, underscoring the notion that the pen can be as powerful as the knife. However, in Marat's tragic fate, it was the knife that ultimately proved more powerful.[17]

             As James H. Rubin stated, ‘More than any other work, The Death of Marat exemplifies the Revolutionary inseparability of artistic activity and political life’.[18] The French Revolution was a prolonged and violent conflict thoroughly documented through the use of propaganda. From festivals, pamphlets, plays, and poems to classical paintings, these works have effectively captured and preserved the complexities and horrors of the era for posterity.

             

           

Figure 1. Jaques Coissieux, Nouvelles Cartes de la République Française, 1793, Print, 38.5 X 24.4 cm, Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Figure 2. E. Mattais, The Death of Charlotte Corday on Place de la Révolution, drawing, 16.3 X 11.2 cm, The British Museum, London.

Figure 3. Paul-André Basset, L'Ami du Peuple, c. 1793, Etching, hand coloured, 810 X 583 cm, Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Figure 4. Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793. Oil on canvas. Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.


The Spanish Civil War

Figure 5. Amando Oliver, Engrave this slogan on your chest: To fight is to win, Republican poster, c1937.

Figure 6. 1 1 Cruzada. Espana orientadora espiritual del mundo. 1931/1939, Political Posters, 101.6 x 71.1 cm.

              Spanish Civil War propaganda took many forms. Political posters created for the Republican cause often featured images of peasants, workers, and armed militias. Many of these posters were designed in the style of the Russian avant-garde art movement known as Constructivism. Russia played a significant role in the development of propaganda across various media, and the Spanish Republicans drew upon this influence in their propaganda efforts (fig. 5).[19] Francisco Franco’s Nationalists also used similar imagery but used more patriotic slogans and fascist imagery like that of the Nazis. They also used images of families and religion within their propaganda posters (fig. 6).[20]  In contrast to the use of posters, the advent of photojournalism significantly impacted the conflict by documenting atrocities and circulating them to a broader audience across Spain. Photographs were displayed in various towns, offering a stark visual representation of the war's brutality. The Associated Press revolutionised the field in 1935 by enabling the immediate transmission of photographs worldwide through portable wire transmissions. Later that year, the capability to send images via radio transmission, further enhanced the rapid dissemination of visual information.[21]

             Immediately following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, photojournalists Robert Capa and David Seymour travelled to Spain to document the conflict. They deliberately chose to use black and white photographs to facilitate rapid transmission and simultaneously highlight the stark reality of the conflict, thereby increasing the impact on viewers.[22] This innovative approach to propaganda extended its reach beyond Spain's borders, aiming to influence a broader audience's perceptions of the war. Photographic propaganda also played a crucial role in domestic communication.[23] In late 1937 and early 1938, Robert Capa, alongside several other photographers, documented the evacuation of Teruel, which proved to be a turning point in the war. This effort aimed to notify civilians about the compulsory evacuation imposed by Republican forces, the aim was to moderate casualties and safeguard lives from the impending assault by Nationalist forces.[24] The images typified the extreme upheaval of civilians and proved to the world the increasing attacks on non-military targets by armed forces.[25]

           

Figure 7. Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Guernica, 1937, Oil on Canvas, 349.3 X 776.6 cm, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte, Reina Sofia, Madrid.

 

              Arguably, one of the most iconic artworks produced during the Spanish Civil War is Picasso’s Guernica, (fig. 7).[26] It was commissioned before its conception when Picasso agreed to create a piece for the Spanish Pavillion at the Paris World Fair in 1937.[27] Picasso had not yet titled his work, nor had he commenced the creation of the extensive canvas, which was to measure 349.3 cm by 776.6 cm, thereby maximising the allocated space at the pavilion.[28] The painting, however, would become an emblematic icon of Spanish Civil War propaganda. Guernica was named after the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica on April twenty-six, 1937, marking another harrowing episode of the civil war. In a devastating assault, under General Franco’s request, the German Condor Legion and Italian Aviazione Legionaria targeted Guernica, a locality devoid of anti-aircraft defences. The Nationalist forces, under Franco's leadership, systematically bombed strategic locations, resulting in significant civilian casualties.[29] These attacks continue to question Franco's morality, as they were perceived as a means to purify Spain, at the cost of civilian lives, potentially constituting ethnic cleansing.[30] The bombings exacerbated animosity toward the Nationalist cause. Despite this, the Nationalists attributed the air raids to internal conflicts among Republican factions.[31]

          

Figure 8. David Seymour, Woman Nursing a Baby at a Land Reform Meeting, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain, 1936, Photograph, 25.4 X 17 cm, International Centre of Photography.

Figure 9. Robert Capa, The Falling Soldier, 1936, Photograph, 24.7 X 34 cm

             Reporters Christopher Holme of Reuters and George Steer of The Times were in the vicinity that night, and they were among the first to document the atrocity. Their accounts confirmed the Nationalists were behind the attack and news was subsequently scattered across the global press. It is plausible that Picasso encountered Holmes or Steer's reports, as they were among the first to document the atrocity.[32] The black and white palette of the painting may have been inspired by the graphic black and white photographs produced by photojournalists from within Spain, enabling the finished image to be distributed easily via the Portable Wireless Network. Scholars such as Michael Young, Nathalie Hager, and Robert Belton propose that two specific photographs influenced the imagery on either side of Guernica.[33]  To the left of the painting, is believed to be inspired by Seymour’s portrayal of a nursing mother gazing skyward (fig. 8).[34] However, Picasso’s image goes further depicting a mother with a dead child, head raised, screaming in anguish. Furthermore, they suggest Capa’s famous image, The Falling Soldier, is the inspiration for the right-hand side of the painting (Fig. 9).[35] This argument represents one of many interpretations of the painting and forms a relevant and engaging debate.

             Guernica is one of the most celebrated pieces of propaganda war art in the modern era, Picasso utilised the extreme horror of the Guernica bombing to represent all the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, ensuring the message would be met with outrage and empathy from the international community. The image continues to be utilised and reinterpreted within contemporary conflicts. Four recent artworks use Guernica to represent opposition to governments sacrificing civilians. Goshka Macuga's The Nature of the Beast critiques the 2003 Iraq invasion. The Keiskamma Guernica protests South Africa's response to HIV/AIDS (fig. 10).[36] Erica Luckert’s theatrical production, Guernica depicts Picasso visited by bombing victims' ghosts. Remaking Picasso’s Guernica protests bombings in Gaza in 2014.[37] These stand as a testament to Picasso's creation, providing inspiration and reflection for all who encounter it for future generations.

Figure 10. Keiskamma Guernica, 2010, Mixed media, 3.5 X 7.8 m, South Africa.

 

 


[1] William A. Pelz, A People’s History of Modern Europe (London: Pluto Press, 2016), p. 42.

[2] Gwynne Lewis, The French Revolution: Rethinking the Debate (London: Routledge, 1993), p. 88.

[3] Lewis, The French Revolution, p.93.

[4] Lewis, The French Revolution, p.94

[5] Jaques Coissieux, Nouvelles Cartes de la République Française, 1793, Print, 38.5 X 24.4 cm, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, <https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O126731/nouvelles-cartes-de-la-république-print-jean-démosthène-dugourc/>

[6] Huntley Dupre, ‘Some French Revolutionary Propaganda Techniques’, The Historian, 2.2, (1940),156–64 (p. 157).

[7] David L. Dowd, ‘Art as National Propaganda in the French Revolution’, The Public Opinion Quarterly, 15.5, (1951), 532-546 (p. 536).

[8] James H. Rubin, ‘Disorder/Order: Revolutionary Art as Performative Representation’, The Eighteenth Century, 30.2, (1989), 83-111 (p. 90).

[9] Samuel Bernstein, ‘Marat, Friend of the People’, Science & Society, 5.4 (1941) 310-335, (p. 318).

[10] William Doyle, The Oxford Dictionary of the French Revolution, (Oxford: Oxford University Press,1989), P. 245.

[11] Gay L. Gillickson, ‘Militant Women: Representations of Charlotte Corday, Louise Michel, and Emmeline Pankhurst’, Women’s History Review, 23.6 (2014) 837-852 (p, 839).

[12] Gillickson, ‘Militant Women’, p, 839.

[13] E. Mattais, The Death of Charlotte Corday on Place de la Révolution, drawing, 16.3 X 11.2 cm, The British Museum, London. <https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/image/172374001> © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

[14] Paul-André Basset, L'Ami du Peuple, c. 1793, Etching, hand coloured, 810 X 583 cm, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, <https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75947/marat-lami-du-peuple-print-basset-paul-andré/>

[15] Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793, 165 X 128 cm, Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jacques-Louis_David_-_Marat_assassinated_-_Google_Art_Project_2.jpg>

[16] Rubin, ‘Disorder/Order: Revolutionary Art as Performative’. p. 92.

[17] Rubin, ‘Disorder/Order: Revolutionary Art as Performative’. p. 93.

[18] Rubin, ‘Disorder/Order: Revolutionary Art as Performative’. p. 90.

[19] Amando Oliver, Engrave this slogan on your chest: To fight is to win, Republican poster, c1937, Greg Beyer, ‘War on Paper: Propaganda Posters from the Spanish Civil War’, <https://www.the collector.com/Spanish-civil-war-propaganda-posters/>, [23 January 2025].

[20] 1 Cruzada. Espana orientadora espiritual del mundo. 1931/1939, Political Posters, 101.6 x 71.1 cm, <https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/objects/26052/1-cruzada-espana-orientadora-espiritual-del-mundo> [accessed 22 January 2025].

[21] Michael Young, Nathalie Hager, and Robert Belton, ‘Notes on Picasso’s Guernica in Context’, The European Legacy, 29.1, (2024) 37-50, (p. 37).

[22] Young, Hager, and Belton, ‘Notes on Picasso’s Guernica in Context’, (p. 42).

[23] María Rosón and Lee Douglas, ‘The things they carried: a gendered reading of photographs of displacement during the Spanish Civil War’, Journal of Spanish Studies, 21.4 (2020,) 459-483, (p. 459).

[24] Rosón and Douglas, ‘The things they carried’, (p. 469).

[25] Rosón and Douglas, ‘The things they carried’, (p. 469).

[26] Pablo Ruiz Picasso, Guernica, 1937, Oil on Canvas, 349.3 X 776.6 cm, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte, Reina Sofia, Madrid.

[27] Young, Hager, and Belton, ‘Notes on Picasso’s Guernica in Context’, (p. 37).

[28] Young, Hager, and Belton, ‘Notes on Picasso’s Guernica in Context’, (p. 40).

[29] Helen Graham, The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 71.

[30] Graham, The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction, p. 73.

[31] Stanley G. Payne, The Spanish Civil War, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 213

[32] Nicholas Rankin, Telegram from Guernica: The Extraordinary Life of George Steer, War Correspondent (London: Faber and Faber, 2003), p. 122.

[33] Young, Hager, and Belton, ‘Notes on Picasso’s Guernica in Context’, (p. 44).

[34] David Seymour, Woman Nursing a Baby at a Land Reform Meeting, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain, 1936, Photograph, 25.4 X 17 cm, International Centre of Photography. <https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/objects/woman-nursing-a-baby-at-a-land-reform-meeting-near-badajoz-extremadura-spain> [accessed 23 January 2025].

[35] Robert Capa, The Falling Soldier, 1936, Photograph, 24.7 X 34 cm, <https://www.rarehistoricalphotos.com/falling-soldier-1936/> [accessed 22 January 2025].

[36] Keiskamma Guernica, 2010, Mixed media, 3.5 X 7.8 m, South Africa, https://keiskamma.org [accessed 24 January 2025].

[37] University of Brighton, Guernica Remakings, ‘Centre for Design History’, <https://www.brighton.ac.uk/cdh/what-we-do/projects/guernica-remakings.aspx> [accessed 23 January 2025].