Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
During the 1930s González increasingly
introduced figurative forms into his sculp-
ture and, for a time at least, drew upon sur-
realism for ideas.
During the late 1930s, as his homeland
was racked by the S
PANISH
CIVIL
WAR
and
the prospects of a new general conflict
threatened all Europe, González was deeply
affected in both his emotions and his art.
His iconic creation of this period is the bust
titled
Montserrat.
A woman with a head
scarf, face contorted in agony, is emitting a
howl of anguish. The figure's name, fre-
quently borne by women in C
ATALONIA
, is
also that of a site in the region. The sculptor
evidently sought to evoke not only the suf-
fering of the individual caused by the war
but also the devastation brought upon a
whole country. The piece had a powerful
effect on visitors to the Spanish Pavilion at
the Paris World Exhibition of 1937.
Depressed and dislocated as the inevitable
conflict overwhelmed his adopted country
as well as his native land, González died
during the darkest moments of the war. His
legacy was, however, a significant and pow-
erful one and is particularly evident in the
metalwork of E
DUARDO
C
HILLIDA
.
During the relaxation of repression that
preceded Franco's death in 1975, González
rose steadily in the esteem and confidence
of his fellow party members and was elected
secretary general in 1974, just in time to
participate in the flowering of post-Franco
democracy. He was elected to the Cortes
majority in 1982. It would be the first of his
four successive terms as prime minister.
The González era was marked by a
growing outreach to the world, including
membership in the European Union and,
somewhat more cautiously, the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization. At home he
followed a moderate socialist path by pro-
moting education and health care for all,
strengthening the judiciary, and curbing
the military but also encouraging a free-
wheeling capitalism. Over time his admin-
istration began to lose its luster as his
economic policies failed to sustain the ini-
tial surge of prosperity that had contrib-
uted to his success. González's virtual
elimination of censorship in all the media
was at first welcomed after decades of dic-
tatorship but eventually opened such
floodgates of libertarianism as to antago-
nize many elements in Spanish society.
While his own charisma would survive
nearly to the end of his tenure, corruption
among ministers and political advisers
diminished public support. Other nega-
tives accumulated during the early 1990s,
including mixed results from the lavish
expenditure on the twin celebrations of
the Columbus Quincentenary at Seville
and the 1992 Olympic Games at B
ARCE
-
LONA
. Far more serious were the accusa-
tions that his government had employed
police death squads to kill Basque nation-
alist leaders. González, who had held on to
González Márquez, Felipe
(1942- )
Spanish politician
Born in S
EVILLE
, the son of a cattle handler,
González was the only member of his fam-
ily to attend college. Soon after attaining a
law degree he began a defense of labor
organizers and other activists of the Left,
demonstrating his growing commitment to
the Socialist cause, although the party
itself—Partido Socialista Obrero Español, or
PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party)—
was still outlawed under the Franco regime.
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