The director of CaixaForum Valencia, Álvaro Borrás, and the curator of the exhibition and Head of Conservation of 19th-century painting at the National Prado Museum, Javier Barón, presented a novel exhibition on portraiture in Spain titled “XIX. The Portrait Century. Collections of the Prado Museum. From Enlightenment to modernity.” This exhibition, jointly organized by the ”la Caixa” Foundation and the National Prado Museum, is part of the strategic alliance that both institutions have maintained since 2011 to bring part of the rich artistic legacy held by the National Prado Museum to the public.
The exhibition can be visited until October 20 at CaixaForum Valencia, after being presented at CaixaForum Barcelona, CaixaForum Zaragoza, and CaixaForum Sevilla. The exhibition delves into the transformation of people’s public image during the 19th century and offers visitors the opportunity to delve into an era that saw the birth of the economic and social structures that have shaped our contemporaneity, all through a genre of fundamental importance in Spanish painting.
The public will have the opportunity to enjoy a total of 159 pieces from the national art collection, with examples from masters such as Goya, Madrazo, Rosales, Pinazo, Sorolla, Fortuny, and Benlliure, among many others. In addition, the exhibition will feature the inclusion of new works, mostly by Sevillian artists, which will be shown to the public for the first time. Among these pieces are the “Portrait of Matilde Díez” by Antonio María Esquivel y Suárez de Urbina, “The Marquis of La Motilla and the Count of El Águila on horseback” by José Roldán y Martínez, “Pedro Ximénez de Haro” by Antonio Mercar, “Mortuary portrait of an artist’s son” and “Self-portrait” by Manuel González Santos, and “Two painters” by José García Ramos.
The exhibition is divided into eight thematic areas: “The image of power,” “The discovery of childhood,” “Female identities,” “Male identities,” “The image of death,” “Portraits and self-portraits of artists,” “Effigies amicorum. Images of writers, musicians, and actors” and “The artist in the studio.” Each section offers a unique perspective on how portraits not only reflected the appearance of people but also their social roles, emotions, and their relationship with the world in a time of great change.
via: MiMub in Spanish
