"The Emigrants" (1951) by the Valencian artist Gastón Castelló Bravo. Oil on canvas. Fine Arts Museum of Alacant.
This painting wants to reflect the pain of having to leave one's hometown to look for a better future elsewhere. The painter made it in honour of his grandparents, who were migrants.
Gastón Castelló himself also had to move away from his home, in this case as a political exile. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), he was affiliated to the anti-fascist union UGT. He painted large portraits of anti-fascist leaders on doors and windows for the rallies held to boost morale against the fascist coup. When the Italian fascist aviation (Mussolini and Hitler were Franco's allies and took part of the war) bombed Alacant's marketplace, killing 300 people and injuring more than 1000, Gastón Castelló went to Albacete as a refugee, where he worked in a circus.
The war ended with the fascist victory and the new regime imposed a reign of horror, with massive killings, arrests, jailing and torture of political dissidents. After the war, Gastón Castelló moved back to his hometown Alacant, where he was jailed for having painted subversive art. He was sentenced to 6 years of prison, but managed to get the sentence reduced to 18 months because he had saved a quantity of religious art from being destroyed in church-burnings during the war. He was forbidden from painting when he was in jail, but found ways to sneak in watercolours and paper.
After he was released, he continued painting and making mosaics. He also made statues for the Fogueres in Alacant (similar to the Falles of València, they are statues that are made for a holiday and burned down at the end of the holiday).
