Abstracted Reality

ARTISTS OF MIDCENTURY SPAIN THRIVED DESPITE DICTATORSHIP.

BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL

Perched high above a gorge, Cuenca is a picturesque medieval city a stone’s throw from Madrid. Its distinctive hanging houses accent a dramatic landscape that serves as an unlikely backdrop for the Spanish Museum of Abstract Art. The museum’s history is rooted as much in midcentury contemporary art movements as it was in the political turmoil of its homeland. When In the Shadow of Dictatorship: Creating the Spanish Museum of Abstract Art opens at the Meadows Museum this month, this impressive collection will bring light to the artists who built it.

This institution opened in 1966 as the private collection of Fernando Zóbel de Ayala y Montojo Torrontegui, a Philippine-born, Americaneducated Spanish painter who was acquiring the work of contemporary, non-figurative artists. Presenting it to the public under the constrained circumstances of General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship seems stunningly daring. The collection found a home in Cuenca through the connections of Zóbel’s friend and fellow artist Gustavo Torner, who was a native of the town.

By the late 1960s, Franco had ruled for close to three decades and would remain in power until his death in 1975. These difficult years, following the country’s devastating civil war, were marked by censorship as well as a disconnect from rapidly changing postwar Europe. As often happens in dark times, the population found ways to adapt. For artists in the 1940s, collectives offered the means to find a common voice, and abstraction became their language of protest.

Spain entered the United Nations in 1955 and began easing its viselike grip on her people. Once the country began to open, many artists chose to live abroad, particularly in Paris and New York, where they soaked up contemporary art trends. This was significant since, according to Clarisse Fava-Piz, Mellon Curatorial Fellow at the Meadows and the exhibition’s curator, “There was no access to contemporary art in Spain at the time.” Pablo Palazuelo was one of the artists who relocated to Paris, where his geometric abstractions reflected the prevailing avant-garde. While there, he formed an artist’s community that could freely show its work. “It was through French gallerists that these artists often got their first shows,” Fava-Piz explains. At the Meadows, she adds, “We are also contextualizing the work in a political sense. We think it is an interesting story about Spain and abstract art.”

With its door ajar, Fava-Piz notes, “Spain realizes that it could use the work of its artists as a platform. The Ministry of Culture would curate shows abroad, though many artists didn’t want to be associated with the government.” It should be noted that while Franco encouraged a rootedness to Spanish tradition, there was no official state art during this period.

Perhaps as a foil to this conservatism, Zóbel was inspired to formulate a radically different idea of what a museum could be. “In Zóbel’s vision, he wanted to do something different from the Prado. He wanted to create a museum that was a visitor’s experience. This was a novel idea at the time,” Fava-Piz says, adding, “It was like a living center.” In 1980, Zóbel turned the museum over to the Madridbased Fundación Juan March, which continues to operate it while still collecting works by these artists. It also serves as a vital research center.

Since artists’ collectives were flourishing at the time, it was not a stretch that Zóbel and his circle ran the museum in a collaborative

Manolo Millares, Sarcophagus for Philip II (Sarcófago para Felipe II), 1963, paint, metal plate, and wood on sewn burlap, 51.37 x 76.75 in. Colección Fundación Juan March, Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, Cuenca manner. “This is part of the story that is lesser known. We are trying to highlight the amazing history of the museum made by artists, run by artists, for artists. It was the first of its kind and unique in Spain at that time,” notes Fava-Piz.

But it was Zóbel’s vision that retrofit a historic home into a center for contemporary art as he considered every meticulous detail. Rather than present a chronological march through galleries, he grouped works in such a way that maximized the environment. “The dialogue between the works and landscape makes it very powerful to see them in that context. It is a very unique museum experience. It is a challenge for us because we cannot recreate the museum. We are bringing the work in different ways to the galleries, and these can tell a different story,” says Fava-Piz. Renovations on the museum are making this exhibition possible. “These works don’t travel much, so it is exciting to see them outside of their environment,” she adds.

Another unique feature of Zóbel’s vision are black rooms, which contrast with adjoining white cube-like spaces. The re-creation of one of these ebony galleries will be a highlight at the Meadows. FavaPiz mentions that these are meant to be immersive experiences, though in a far more contemplative manner from contemporary ideas behind these installations.

The exhibition presents varying modes of abstraction, from the strongly gestural paintings of Antonio Saura and Luis Feito to the mixed media work of Antoni Tàpies. Work by Dau al Set, an artists’ association based in Barcelona, is politically charged, while artists such as José Luis Alexanco, Elena Asins, and Soledad Sevilla explore the connection between art and science. Sculpture, including a dramatic piece by Eduardo Chillida, is also making the trip to Dallas.

While museumgoers may be unfamiliar with many of these artists, the Meadows has a long history of showing their work, beginning with the 1975 exhibition, Contemporary Spanish Painters: Miró and After—A Selection. It has also been collecting in this area for decades. The current exhibition, for which the Meadows is the only venue outside of Europe, will be complemented by the museum’s works by Zóbel, Saura, and Tàpies. Additionally, Antonio Rodríguez Luna’s Still Life, a recent acquisition made in honor of the museum’s late director, Mark Roglán, will be included.

“I hope this exhibition brings a light on art and artists on which there is a lot to talk about. We hope this will be a base upon which people can build more knowledge, and that it opens new possibilities of research. There is still a lot to learn from this group,” Fava-Piz concludes. P