Spanish Civil War veteran to speak at Spencer Museum of Art exhibition

LAWRENCE -- Abe Osheroff, a Spanish Civil War veteran and filmmaker will present his award-winning film "Art in the Struggle for Freedom" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the Spencer Museum of Art auditorium at the University of Kansas.

His presentation is part of the "Shouts from the Wall: Posters and Photographs Brought Home from the Spanish Civil War by American Volunteers" exhibition, which runs Jan. 19 through March 10 in the Kress Gallery of the Spencer Museum of Art.

The exhibition was organized in 1999 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the role of the U.S. volunteers who formed the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to fight against fascism in Europe. Osheroff served in that brigade.

The collection comprises 35 posters, lithographs and other illustrations that once "shouted" from the walls of Spanish towns. Photographs, wartime letters and a copy of the only wall newspaper to survive the war intact are included. The vivid posters show a cross-section of early modernist art styles from the era, including art deco, realism, surrealism and photo montage. The label texts testify to the spirit of a nation fighting against fascism for democracy, as well as to the role of the 2,800 American volunteers.

The Spencer Museum collection recently acquired the portfolio "The Dream and Lie of Franco" by Pablo Picasso and will exhibit it in conjunction with "Shouts from the Wall."

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives at Brandeis University, with curators Peter Carroll and Cary Nelson, organized the exhibition. Professional services were provided by the Technical Assistance Program, a division of the American Federation of Arts. The exhibition is made possible by grants from the Puffin Foundation Ltd., Charles Lawrence Keith and Clara Miller Foundation, the Program for Cultural Cooperation Between SpainØs Ministry of Culture and United States Universities, the Blue Mountain Center, and the Needmor Fund. Support at the Spencer Museum comes from the Price R. and Flora A. Reid Foundation; the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency; and federal agencies the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Public events:
 • KU Perspectives: "French Writers and the Spanish Civil War" by Diane Fourny, chair of European studies, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13; "Nazism and the Spanish Civil War" by Carl Strikwerda, associate dean of humanities, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20, Spencer museum gallery.

 • Lecture -- "Volunteers for Liberty: Americans in the Spanish Civil War," Peter Carroll, co-curator of the exhibition and chair of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, Spencer museum auditorium.