The traveling exhibition “Maruja Mallo: Mask and Compass,” now at Centro Botín and soon at Museo Reina Sofía, sheds light on the overlooked legacy of Spain’s modernist pioneer.
Once regarded as Spain’s most important woman artist of the 20th century, Maruja Mallo’s reputation dimmed after her death in 1995. Today, her fearless vision and her singular contribution to Spanish modernism are finally regaining international visibility through a landmark retrospective.
Breaking boundaries in 1930s Europe
Mallo’s early career placed her at the heart of European avant-garde circles. In Paris, she exhibited alongside the Surrealists, and her work caught the attention of figures such as André Breton, Picasso and Miró. Her series Cloacas y campanarios captured a world of unsettling symbols, while her later Mineral and Vegetal Architectures expressed a geometric understanding of the natural order.
Exile, theory and artistic maturity in Argentina
The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War forced Mallo into exile in Buenos Aires. There she produced the series The Religion of Work, dignifying women laborers while reflecting her socialist leanings. She also lectured and published extensively, asserting her intellectual position within the broader Latin American cultural context.
A return overshadowed by historical narratives
When she returned to Spain in 1960, Mallo struggled to regain a place within a male-dominated narrative of modern art. Although honored late in life, her work remained underrepresented in European collections. Today’s retrospective reclaims her artistic and theoretical contributions as central to the development of Spanish modernism.
As noted in a recent feature for Tentáculo Contemporáneo, the personal chronicle of journalist María Elena Lozano brings an intimate perspective to Mallo’s journey, complementing this broader critical reflection on her cultural impact.
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