Maruja Mallo (1909-1995)
Vivero (Lugo)
Vivero (Lugo)
Maruja Mallo is one of the most fascinating figures of the Spanish artistic scene in the period before the Civil War. Always attracted by renewal, throughout her life she devoted her best efforts to plastic creation and to teaching.
Her training began at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid where she studied between 1922 and 1926. The cultural climate in the capital city brought her to the vanguard movements of the time, and she came into contact with the members of the Generation of 1927: Lorca, Dalí, Alberti, Buñuel and Zambrano made up a group of friends who Mallo often frequented.
In 1928, Mallo’s work favorably surprised José Ortega y Gasset, one of the intellectual giants of the time. Appreciating the innovative possibilities of her painting, he organized for her the only art exhibit ever done by the ‘Revista de Occidente’ (Western Review) in all of its existence, and Madrid received her with honors.
The years leading up to the Civil War were a period of intense activity for Maruja Mallo. Her classes at the Student Residence and the School of Ceramics complemented her theatrical projects and articles she wrote for Revista de Avance, the Literary Almanac, or Revista de Occidente. And of course she took the inevitable trip to Paris, where in 1932 she met Bretón, Éluard, Miró, de Chirico, Ernst and Magritte. A change in direction towards surrealism with dramatic intensity occurred at that time. Maruja Mallo’s emblematic painting “The Scarecrow” dates from this period.
She also participated in the School of Vallecas, led by Benjamín Palencia and Alberto Sánchez until the Civil War forced her into exile in Buenos Aires. The Argentinian capital was her most stable place of residence for almost 25 years, and her creative rhythm continued to be intense there, interrupted by periodic trips to Paris and New York
She did not return to Spain until 1965, when she resettled in Madrid, only to discover that she was a complete stranger in her own country. Her name had fallen into oblivion and she would not again receive the attention she deserved until many years later. She was awarded the Medal of Merit for Fine Arts and the National Plastic Arts Prize before her death in 1995.
Her training began at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid where she studied between 1922 and 1926. The cultural climate in the capital city brought her to the vanguard movements of the time, and she came into contact with the members of the Generation of 1927: Lorca, Dalí, Alberti, Buñuel and Zambrano made up a group of friends who Mallo often frequented.
In 1928, Mallo’s work favorably surprised José Ortega y Gasset, one of the intellectual giants of the time. Appreciating the innovative possibilities of her painting, he organized for her the only art exhibit ever done by the ‘Revista de Occidente’ (Western Review) in all of its existence, and Madrid received her with honors.
The years leading up to the Civil War were a period of intense activity for Maruja Mallo. Her classes at the Student Residence and the School of Ceramics complemented her theatrical projects and articles she wrote for Revista de Avance, the Literary Almanac, or Revista de Occidente. And of course she took the inevitable trip to Paris, where in 1932 she met Bretón, Éluard, Miró, de Chirico, Ernst and Magritte. A change in direction towards surrealism with dramatic intensity occurred at that time. Maruja Mallo’s emblematic painting “The Scarecrow” dates from this period.
She also participated in the School of Vallecas, led by Benjamín Palencia and Alberto Sánchez until the Civil War forced her into exile in Buenos Aires. The Argentinian capital was her most stable place of residence for almost 25 years, and her creative rhythm continued to be intense there, interrupted by periodic trips to Paris and New York
She did not return to Spain until 1965, when she resettled in Madrid, only to discover that she was a complete stranger in her own country. Her name had fallen into oblivion and she would not again receive the attention she deserved until many years later. She was awarded the Medal of Merit for Fine Arts and the National Plastic Arts Prize before her death in 1995.