On May 18, the Exhibition Artistic Trends in Spain 1950-2000, Tribute to the “La Casa del Siglo XV” Gallery will open in the Torreón de Lozoya, an exhibition that will concentrate fifty years of the artistic history of Spain in Segovia.
To find out all the details hidden behind this project, we spoke with Ana Doldán de Cáceres, the curator of the exhibition, in charge of the meticulous selection of works chosen so that visitors can delve deeper into the most relevant artistic movements of the second half. of the 20th century, while enjoying the more than 100 works on display.
With extensive experience curating exhibitions, Ana Doldán has been linked to the Esteban Vicente Museum of Contemporary Art in Segovia for more than 20 years, carrying out conservation, research and exhibition coordination work. In addition, since 2015 she has been the artistic director of the institution. Now she adds this new professional project.
—How did the opportunity to participate in this exhibition arise?
—Approximately nine months ago I received a call from the president of the Art, Culture and Heritage Foundation, José Manuel De Riva, who told me about the Foundation’s idea of doing an exhibition project that would be a tribute to the “La Casa del Siglo XV” Gallery. ”, and that they would like me to take over the curatorship of it. From the first moment I was seduced by the proposal for several reasons. On the one hand, for the opportunity to investigate and delve into one of the most fruitful periods in the history of Spanish art, which laid the foundations for current contemporary art; because it is always enriching to take on a new professional challenge; because I am passionate about creating an exhibition, I have been dedicated to it for twenty years from different positions (curating or coordination), and each project is an illusion; and for a reason that borders on the human and sentimental, which is based on the special affection towards Ángel and Jesús Serrano and their companions, Carmen and Aurora. This relationship would be forged more strongly when we held the exhibition The XX Century in the House of the contemporary culture in this city. All actions carried out to highlight their work are absolutely deserved, which is why I am proud to participate in one of them.
— The exhibition is titled Artistic trends in Spain 1950-2000, Tribute to the “La Casa del Siglo XV” Gallery. Why is it a tribute to the “La Casa del Siglo XV” Gallery? What cultural value did the space bring to Segovia?
—It is a tribute because the starting point for drawing up the argument of the exhibition has been to review the artists and/or movements that were exhibited in the gallery during its almost forty years of life. The “La Casa del Siglo XV” Gallery contributed decisively to cultural modernization thanks to the fact that in its rooms they showed the new artistic trends that were developing in Spain since the mid-20th century. At the same time, it became the best school for collectors who, thanks to it, learned to look at and better understand contemporary art, as well as the platform to promote artists from Segovia and the province. They therefore showed Segovia society the strong artistic growth of post-war Spain that was present in the large cities, but which was difficult to find in other environments, especially in a small provincial capital like Segovia. The founders of the gallery, the brothers Ángel and Jesús Serrano, were very restless people, ahead of their time, and with extensive artistic and cultural background, who in December 1963 decided to open the doors of their gallery, in a building from the 19th century. XV to show the art of the 20th century to a city that, until it connected with the capital through the Guadarrama tunnel, was always late for everything.
— The exhibition covers the time period from 1950 to 2000, but the “La Casa del Siglo XV” Gallery was inaugurated in 1963. What is the reason for advancing the exhibition period?
It is common for art to be a reflection of the political-social circumstances in which it was created. Although the “La Casa del Siglo XV” Gallery was inaugurated in December 1963, we have believed it is essential to mark the starting point of the tour at the halfway point of the 20th century, in 1950 with the aim of including informalist art. A universal trend, which developed between the 40s and 50s of the 20th century, and which reached Spain, although with a later chronology in 1955, due to the lethargy that the arts were experiencing in our country as a result of the Civil War and the triumph of the Franco regime. In the 1950s, the dictatorship began to soften, and the country began its awakening, which allowed the development of a renewed art that, in addition, would be used by the Franco government abroad, with the aim of transmitting an open vision of the country. Thus, art biennials such as those in Sao Paulo or Venice, became a promotional showcase. The reference to informalist art can be seen in the exhibition in its material aspect, present in the work of Tàpies or Chillida; and in its expressionist side, with the El Paso Group as a reference. Starting the tour in the year 62-63 meant ignoring a transcendental historical-artistic period.
—What role did the Serrano brothers have in bringing art to Segovia?
—As we have mentioned, the Serrano brothers were the main promoters of art in Segovia for many years. In national territory, the galleries were concentrated in the main population centers such as Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona or Bilbao, especially those in Madrid, which they were able to get to know due to proximity, would be their references. The formula they followed was gallery-store, in the style of others such as Galería Clan, Layetana or Abril, a way to support economic activity to make it more viable. Angel and Jesús fought for Segovia to become a center of artistic reference and wanted to spread their cultural concern to the people of Segovia. This gallery represents a very important approach to art in a province that, although geographically not far from the capital, the poor connection that existed in the mid-20th century made it difficult for the cultural influences of that time to reach.
—And now focusing on the exhibition, what will we be able to find in the Exhibition Artistic Trends in Spain 1950-2000, Tribute to the Gallery “La Casa del Siglo XV”?
—This exhibition maps Spanish art from the second half of the 20th century, which coincides, with the exception already indicated, with the time in which the “La Casa del Siglo XV” Gallery remains active in Segovia. The exhibition is structured into eleven sections, or in other words eleven trends, those related to abstraction, in its informalist, geometric and lyrical aspects, and neo-figurative trends.
We have tried to bring together the most relevant movements of this period, and their most significant representatives with the aim of showing the public as complete a panorama as possible of the varied creativity of our country. We have gathered just over 100 works by 70 artists including, among others, Tàpies, Chillida, Zóbel, Oteiza, Equipo Crónica, José Guerrero and Miquel Barceló. It is a happy coincidence that this year the centenary of the birth of the first three is celebrated, so this exhibition especially recognizes the career of these figures with a greater number of works, compared to just one in most cases.
—What artistic movements exactly is the exhibition going to focus on?
—With everything noted, the encyclopedic nature of the exhibition is evident, as a sequential line of all these trends is produced: Material Informalism, 1950-1960; Expressionist informalism: El Paso Group, 1957-1960; The Cuenca Group, 1959-1966; Geometric Abstraction, 1957-1979; Concept and Nature, 1970-1995; Pop Art in Spain, 1960-1980; Luis Gordillo and the New Madrid Figuration, 1970-1980; Color Fields and Lyrical Abstraction, 1970-1999; Spanish Neofiguration of Expressionist Tendency, focused on the work of Juan Barjola; The Renewal of painting, 1980-1999; Local Echoes, 1966-2000.
—What influence has the gallery had on the development of Segovian artists?
—The gallery has been the starting point for many local artists who were guided towards the art inherited from American abstract expressionism, such as Carlos León; or those who focused on lyrical abstraction, such as Patricia Azcárate or Alberto Reguera. For local artists, the “La Casa del Siglo XV” Gallery has been a school in which they can learn about the drift of national art and generate, from them, their own careers, whether indebted to them or not. They educated their gaze and I would dare to say that all artists from Segovia and those living in Segovia have exhibited at least once in their lives in the gallery, in many cases becoming the starting point of their careers, some of them with an important trail. international. As we said at the beginning, not only artists, but also collectors have been fundamental in the gallery’s survival. Many began their taste for the art of collecting there, which is why this exhibition is fundamentally made up of works from private property, in allusion to the impulse that the gallery gave in that sense.
—What was the criteria and process for selecting the works?
—Although I have been working in the sector for many years, and therefore I am not on barren ground, it has not been entirely easy to find certain works, sometimes, in fact, it has been a detective task. It is an exhibition with many conditions: chronological, authorship, spatial, so the work had to meet a series of requirements that make searches difficult. It must be said that the reception of the project has been very satisfactory, and that gallery owners, collectors, and cultural agents in general have gone out of their way to help us find the appropriate works. Interesting contacts have been generated that have made it possible to incorporate key works. In this sense I want to highlight the support and help of the president of the Foundation, José Manuel de Riva, in locating works, and the crucial help of his team in coordinating the loans.
—How do you think the reception will be? What would you like to leave visitors with?
—I think, and I hope, that the reception will be good. I would like this exhibition to be valued as an opportunity offered to society to rediscover the most recent art history of our country and contextualize when and how these proposals, so different and related at the same time, emerge. That the importance of private initiatives that, silently, fight to maintain and disseminate art, culture and artists be valued. The Gallery “La Casa del Siglo Art, Culture and Historical Heritage Foundation.
