The Museu Nacional has been working together with the Generalitat for a few years to complete the collection of post-war and second-avant-garde art. Due to limited space, most of the works are not currently on display but the expansion of the rooms, in 2021, will allow them to be presented to the public in a systematic and consistent way.

In the two rooms dedicated to this period, we present The defeated by Marc Aleu, an imposing work because of its dimensions and its expressive power. Due to the theme and the impact, it explains the traumatic imprint of the war during the Franco post-war period. At the same time, we recover a forgotten artist who played a notable role in the decade of the 1950s. Explaining an era, making a historiographical review and a recuperation of heritage, while discovering the artistic quality of Catalan artists, are fundamental goals of our project that this work perfectly represents.

Marc Aleu took an active part in Barcelona's modern artistic life during the 1950s. He formed part of the ephemeral Grup Taüll in 1955, together with Antoni Tàpies, Modest Cuixart, Josep Guinovart, Jordi Mercader, Jaume Muxart and Joan Josep Tharrats. After a period close to magical primitivism, Aleu formulated a figurative poetry with Picasso roots and a realistic will that can be related to the ideological position of leftists opposed to Francoism. From Picasso could come the volumetric rotundity of the figures and the compression in a limited space that generates a distressing uneasiness. The resolution of the figures in grey, the emphasis on the expressive tension of the arms and hands, the way of joining faces, cheek to cheek, in a desperate attempt at consolation, all generate a pathetic feeling of solidarity. The work focuses on the victims. Aleu aims to give his work a deeply humanist breath, which manifests the tragedy and greatness of the human condition. It is an ambitious art in its philosophical and physical dimension. There is a clear mural vocation in this painting, with monumental effects.