The Madrid gallery Joseph of the Hand has recovered in a sample the Sanfermines poster made in 1974 by the artist Agustín Ibarrola which was “censored” and which contained references to ‘Guernica’ and the “workers’ struggle.”
In 1974, Ibarrola was commissioned to design the poster for the Sanfermines, but after “censorship” it was finally designed by the painter from Pamplona Pedro Manterola. “Without a single word, the poster was a declaration of intent“said gallery owner José de la Mano.
On the poster you can see a bull and a group of figures with their fists raised. “The first takes us to Picasso’s Guernica; the second, to the workers’ struggle: “Ibarrola never stopped reaffirming his political convictions and his strong connection with the labor movement during the Franco dictatorship.”De la Mano has indicated.
The canvas sketch for the poster is exhibited, for the first time, after the search carried out by the gallerist, who in 2021 presented Ibarrola’s version of ‘Guernica’ at ARCOmadrid, another piece that was considered lost and that is now part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao.
The Bullfighting Commission of the Casa de Misericordia of Pamplona, organizer of the Bull Fair, annually commissioned an artist to design the poster that announced the celebration. For the year 1974, he proposed Jorge Oteiza and, although the sculptor initially accepted the commission, he ended up rejecting it, citing his lack of time for work reasons.
He recommended Ibarrola instead. He accepted the invitation and sent his sketch to the Casa de Misericordia in March 1974. A work of expressionist figuration, which explicitly represented the two main interests of the artist at that time: Guernica and the exaltation of the workers’ struggle. .
On a black background, Ibarrola paints the head of the Guernica bull in the upper part of the composition. In addition, he also draws the attendees with their fists raised, as a symbol of unity and resistance, at the bottom of the poster and using constructivist-influenced language.
In 1973, Ibarrola was arrested after publicly announcing that he was a member of the Communist Party of Euskadi (PCE-EPK), during a conference at the Bilbao Faculty of Medicine.
And on the other hand, The workers’ protests that had prevailed throughout Spain since the early 1970s were especially frequent in Navarra.where the popular Sanfermines celebration took place.
In such a way that, in the session held on March 14, 1974, the members of the Bullfighting Commission of the House of Misericordia decided to reject the sketch of the Ibarrola poster, arguing that its protest nature did not align with the recreational purposes of the Feria del Toro, despite recognizing its value, has explained the gallery.