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Josep Bartolí i Guiu
(1910–1995)
These exhibits explore Josep Bartolí i Guiu's front-page editorial cartoons in the New York periodicals Ibérica and España Libre from 1956 to 1970.
Josep Bartolí i Guiu (Barcelona, 1910 or 1911 – New York, 1995), who studied at the School of Arts and Crafts of La Llotja in Barcelona, engaged with Barcelona's artistic and intellectual circles as a young man. In his exile in New York, Bartolí published hundreds of black-and-white editorial cartoons in the New York Ibérica and España Libre in the 1950s and 1960s. Unlike his previous drawings of internment camps in France, which featured many dark strokes, exile caricatures are minimalist and characterized by continuous lines. They are conceptual drawings that clearly express his authority as an editorial cartoonist, proven by the fact that his art was prominently displayed in these periodicals. His graphic art covered news from Spain, drawing on information from underground and global networks of dissidence. Bartolí’s satirical commentary contested the US Cold War narrative about Francisco Franco’s Spain as an ally of world peace and Christianity.
I thank Bernice Bromberg, Josep Bartolí’s widow, for her authorization to preserve and curate Bartolí’s work.
Bartolí on Fascist Spain
His artistic production displayed a proletarian sensibility that mocked the many facets of Fascist Spain: the imperial rhetoric, the military life, the Spanish fascist party Falange, the cult of the unique leader, National Catholicism, censorship, and the socialization of youth. Furthermore, Bartolí’s visual language exposed Francisco Franco’s anti-intellectualism, elitism, corruption, and demagogic propaganda, thus breaking down mainstream notions of Spain for American readers.
Bartolí on Antifascist Resistance
Bartolí documented the antifascist activism and solidarity abroad and in Spain, celebrated freedom fighters and student demonstrations, and asked for unity of action.
Bartolí on International and Monarchic Relations
Bartolí exposed global powers negociations with Franco. Bartolí also illustrated Ibérica’s reports about the regime's corruption to undermine Spain's international relations further.