Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)

24 june, 1998 - 21 september, 1998 /
Sabatini Building, Floor 3
Maruja Mallo. La verbena (The Fair), 1927. Painting. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Collection, Madrid
Maruja Mallo. La verbena (The Fair), 1927. Painting. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Collection, Madrid

This exhibition provides an overview of Federico Garcia Lorca’s (Fuente Vaqueros, 1898 - Granada, 1936) personal and artistic biography. His cities, friends, success and the poet’s loneliness are the four main topics used to display his public and private life. An extensive correspondence and personal documents are featured in the exhibition, as well as photographs, books and manuscripts. The exhibition is completed with the works of contemporary artists who share artistic and aesthetic concerns over his career. Among these are the most outstanding representatives of Madrid’s artistic avant-garde, such as Benjamín Palencia, Rafael Barradas, Gregorio Prieto, José Moreno Villa, Adriano del Valle and José Bergamin.

The exhibition begins with his childhood in his hometown and his subsequent integration into the cultural life of Granada, where he meets Juan Ramón Jiménez and Manuel de Falla. The influence of both marks the style of his poetry and his penchant for popular culture, and is developed in the exhibition under the term "jondo” (passionate flamenco). Later, Lorca moves to Madrid and his stay at the Residencia de Estudiantes marks a pivotal stage in his life. Opportunities for success and his friendship with Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel, Pepín Bello or Maruja Mallo, among others, trigger his work and creativity. His trip to New York and the stopover in Havana, allow him to make an alliance between the modern world and popular culture in a city which is a symbol of modernity.

His friendship with Dali lasts for ten years; their meeting is a crucial event that leads to his own iconographic creation and a self-ideology, present both in his writing and in his drawings. Conversely, he adds to his poems popular elements of Spanish tradition where the influence of two of his friends stand out: the bullfighter Ignacio Sánchez Mejías and the dancer known as La Argentinita. In time, he also includes in his life and work more high-brow aspects of music, painting, film and poetry, not to mention his admiration for the work of Luis de Góngora.

Lorca immediately recognises the success of his theatre pieces and poetry, where actresses contribute to the favourable reception of his work in global cities such as Montevideo or Buenos Aires. In addition, his passion for theatre intertwines with his popular and social side projects such as La Barraca and in his collaborations with independent groups such as the Anfístora theater club.

Regarding themes, for solitude, he finds in the image and metaphor of the shadow his best incarnation. Joy and sadness, celebration and tragedy are two sides of the same reality and are a necessary privacy. The mask, the rose and the butterfly drowning in an inkwell are some of the figures with which the poet identifies himself in his verses, which become a way of expressing his displeasure, led by the social hypocrisies of the time.

Exhibition´s details

Organized by: 
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in collaboration with the Comisión Nacional Organizadora de los Actos Conmemorativos del Centenario del Nacimiento de Federico García Lorca and the Fundación García Lorca
Curatorship: 
Estrella de Diego, Fernando Huici, Juan Pérez de Ayala and María Luisa Martín de Argila
Exhibition Tour: 

Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona CCCB (October 15 - November 22, 1998); Palacio de los Condes de Gabia, Instituto de América, Centro Damián Bayón de Santa Fé, Granada (December 11, 1998 - February 10, 1999)

Artists:
José Acosta Medina, María Antonieta Agenaar, Amelia Agostini, Kety Aguado, Pilar Aguado, Rafael Aguado, Emilio Aladrén, Isaac Albéniz, Rafael Alberti, Alberto (Alberto Sánchez), Vicente Aleixandre, Dámaso Alonso, Manuel Altolaguirre, Valentín Álvarez Cienfuegos, Enrique Amorim, Juan José Amorim, José Amorós, Manuel Ángeles Ortiz, Guillaume Apollinaire, Ernesto Arancibia, Javier del Arco, Rosario Arniches, Max Aub, Luis Bagaría, Porfirio Barba Jacob, Catalina Bárcena, Matilde del Barco, Rafael Barradas (Rafael Pérez Giménez), Ángel Barrios, Salvador Bartolozzi, Pilar Bascaran, Pepín Bello, José Bergamín, Diego Bermúdez Calas, G. Bertol, María Blanchard (María Gutiérrez Blanchard), Eduardo Blanco Amor, Sara Bollo, Francisco Bores, Norah Borges (Leonor Fanny Borges Acevedo), André Breton, Brothers Brown, Manuel Bueno, Alfonso Buñuel, Luis Buñuel, José Caballero, Juan Cabanes, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Antonio Calero, Sandalio Callejo, Zenobia Camprubí, José Carazo, Josep Carbonell, Julio Casal, Fernando del Castillo, Juan Centeno, Luis Cernuda, Miguel Cerón Rubio, Miguel de Cervantes, José María Chacón y Calvo, Colache Cimarra, José Ciria y Escalante, Manuel Collado, Conde de Romanones, Carlos Congosto, Acario Cortapés, Helena Cortesina, Manuel Bartolomé Cossío, Natalia Cossío, Hart Crane, Joaquín Cuadros, Philip Cummings, Antonio Cunnills Cabanellas, Fernado d'Estoup, Ana María Dalí, Salvador Dalí, Rubén Darío, Claude Debussy, Mercedes Delgado García, Josefina Díaz de Artiagas, Pepe Díaz, Gerardo Diego, José Díez Pastor, Enrique Diosdado, Mary Dixon, Dolores "La Colorina", Anselmo Domènech, Martín Domínguez Berrueta, Gustavo Durán, Louis Eaton-Daniel, El Caracol (Manuel Ortega), Federico Elizalde, T.S. Elliot, Elías Entralgo, Carlos Sabat Ercasty-Sabat, Vicente Escudero, Óscar Esplá, Esquilo, Manuel Falla, Valentín Felip Durán, Tica Fernández Montesinos, Ángel Ferrant, Alfredo Mario Ferreiro, Agustín Figueroa, Eduardo Figueroa, Eugenio Florit, Manuel Fontanals, Rosa María Fontanals, Narciso de la Fuente, Carmen Galán, Juan María Gallego Burín, Lisandro Galtier, Ángel Ganivet, Federico García Rodríguez, Justa García, Federico García Lorca, Gabriel García Maroto, Emilio Garrigues, Sebastiá Gasch, Ramón Gaya, Robert Gerhard, Luis Gil Salguero, Francisco Giner de los Ríos, Oliverio Girondo, Luis Gómez Vangüemest, Graciano Gómez, Raúl González Tuñón, Ismael González de la Serna, Julio González, Miguel González, Emilio Grau Sala, Úrsula Grenville, Grieg, Guardiola, Ernest Guasp, Juan Guerrero Ruiz, Juan Guerrero, Armand Guibert, Edmundo Guibourg, Jorge Guillén, Nicolás Guillén, Ernesto Halffter, Max Henriquez Ureña, Leight Henry, Hermanos Loynaz, A. Hernández Miró, Jacinto Higueras, Lola Higueras, Modesto Higueras, José María Hinojosa, Mary Hogan, Stanton Hogan, Francisco Ichaso, Francisco Iglesias Brage, Alberto Jiménez Fraud, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Manuel Jofré, Joselito, Omar Khayyam, La Niña de los Peines (Pastora Pavón), Norah Lange, Hermenegildo Lanz y Sra. Lanz, Enrique Lanz, Jorge Larco, Maurice Legendre, Nicolás de Lekuona, María Teresa León, Ricardo Levene, Lidia "La Bruja", Félix Lisazo, Ambrosio Llamazares, Emilia Llanos, Lluís Llimona, López Valencia, Vicente Lorca Romero, Antonio Luna, Antonio Machado, Lygia Mackenna de Callejo, Raúl Maestri, Maruja Mallo (Ana María Gómez González), Jorge Mañach, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), A. Mantecón, Pura Maórtua de Ucelay, Diego Marín, Juan Marinello, Luis Mariscal, Eduardo Marquina, Max Martínez Ureña, Manuel Martínez, Santos Martínez, Álvaro Melián Lafinur, Lola Membrives, Concha Méndez, Enrique Menjuto, Sevino Menjuto, Fernando Mignoni, John Miller, Ricardo Molinari, Federico Mompou, Alberto Mondino, Monfort, Montanyá, Germana Montero, Ramón Montoya Salazar, Mariano Mora Guarnido, Juan Antonio Morales, María Luz Morales, José María Moraz, H. Moreno Báez, José Moreno Villa, Carlos Morla Lynch, Morón, María Muñoz de Quevedo, Laura Neruda, Pablo Neruda, Edgar Neville, Georgia O'Kefee, José Obradors, Esperanza Oñate, Federico de Onís, Santiago Ontañón, Ordinas, Emilio Oribe, Antonio Ortega Molina, Fernando Ortiz y Silva, Ricardo Orueta, Julia Pacheco, Benjamín Palencia, Pegudo, Antonio Pena, Ernesto Pérez Guerra, José Perullera, Pablo Picasso (Pablo Ruiz Picasso), Doña Pilar, Gustavo Pittaluga, Miguel Pizarro, Conchita Polo, Mathilde Pomés, Alfonso Ponce de León, Emilio Prados, Jean Prèvost, Gregorio Prieto, Miguel Prieto, Miguel Puga, Antonio Quevedo, Alberto Quijano, Maurice Ravel, Prosper Ricard, N. Y. Richards-Ward, Pío del Río Hortega, Luis Rioboó, Ángel del Río, Fernando de los Ríos, Laura de los Ríos, Luis Risoto, Cipriano Rivas Cherif, Primo de Rivera, Rogelio Robles Pozo, Eduardo Ródenas, María Rodrigo, Eduardo Rodríguez Valdivieso, Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, Soto de Rojas, Joaquín Romero Murube, Aurelio Romeu, José Antonio Rubio Sacristán, Georgette Rucar, Jeanne Rucar, Antonio Ruiz Vilaplana, Santiago Rusiñol, Arturo Sáenz de la Calzada, Carlos Sáenz de Tejada, Josep María de Sagarra, Regino Sainz de la Maza, Esteban Salazar Chapela, Adolfo Salazar, Ángel Saldaña, Pedro Salinas, José Sánchez Puertas, Pedro Sanjuan, Kurt Schindler, Andrés Segovia, José Segura, Francisco Soriano Lapresa, Igor Stravinsky, Rafael Suárez Solís, Paulino Suárez, Pablo Suero, Jules Supervielle, José Surroca, Maurice Tabart, Josefina Tapias, Diego Tarancón, Sara Tornú, Amelia de la Torre y Cañizares, Claudio de Torre, Guillermo Torre, Manuel Torres Molina, Joaquín Torres García, John B. Trend, Sr. Troncoso, Joaquín Turina, Pura Ucelay, Eduardo Ugarte, Enrique Ugarte, Miguel de Unamuno, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Adriano del Valle, Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio, Ángel Vegue y Goldoni, Francisco Vergara Cardona, Juan Vicens, Fernando Vílchez, Fernando Villalón, Leonor Villamarín, Vithana Studio, Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Margarita Xirgu, Carmen Yebes, Conde de Yepes, Eugenio Ymaz, Jorge Zalamea, José Zorrilla, Ignacio Zuloaga View more