Josep Renau

Josep Renau

Josep Renau, Spanish artist active in the GDR

Josep Renau Berenguer made one of the GDR's most recognizable public mosaics, but he was born in Valencia, Spain in 1907. From 1919 to 1925, Renau studied at the San Carlos Art Academy in Valencia. He was in charge of the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World Exposition in Paris and commissioned Pablo Picasso's Guernica for it. Renau was a communist and opposed General Franco. As a result, he was forced to flee Spain in 1939 to avoid a death sentence and ended up in Mexico. In Mexico, he made film posters, photomontages, and murals, including collaborations with David Alfaro Siqueiros.

In 1958, he moved to the GDR. During his time there, he made mural mosaics that can still be seen in Halle (Saale), Erfuhrt, and Halle-Neustadt. Renau’s exile ended in 1976, and he returned to Spain to work. However, when his health started to decline in 1982, he returned to the GDR and died in a hospital in East Berlin.

Ricardo Martín, photographer

La Pajarera

1981

Copyright Ricardo Martín