4 best Spanish AVANT-GARDE painters and their most outstanding WORKS

The term avant-garde refers to all the artistic movements that took place throughout the 20th century. A word that has a sense of struggle, of advancing a small group of artists over the rest, getting ahead in terms of artistic sensibilities, techniques, colors, themes, etc.

Another of the peculiarities of the avant-garde is that critical and combative character against the established order and academicism. At times these avant-garde movements were aggressive, controversial, provocative and iconoclastic. Some artists who broke with the established and sought to transform society following a progressive attitude. Something that was also transmitted to other sectors such as science or industry.

In Spain, the passage of these artistic vanguards was also experienced, providing the world with an excellent group of artists. In this lesson from unPROFESOR.com we show you some examples of the best Spanish avant-garde painters and their works most prominent. Discover them with us!

Index

1. The Spanish avant-gardes - summary
2. Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), one of the leading Spanish avant-garde painters
3. Juan Gris (1887–1927), one of the leaders of Cubism
4. Maria Blanchard (1881-1932), one of the great figures of Cubism
5. Maruja Mallo (1902–1995), an avant-garde artist without labels

The artistic avant-garde Spanish had Paris as inspiration and where to contact the new artistic trends. And although avant-garde artists such as the Impressionists declared having Velázquez or Goya as references. From 1900 onwards, and with picasso As an outpost in Paris, Spain contributed to the global avant-garde with names like Pablo Gargallo, Juan Gris, Joan Miró, María Blanchard, Julio González or Salvador Dalí, among others.

However, in Spain prior to the First World War, they opted for more moderate versions of those avant-garde trends. Post-impressionists and symbolists like Zuloaga, Sorolla or Ruisiñol also managed to succeed abroad, as did Julio Romero de Torres, Maeztu, Regoyos or Iturrino.

During the conflict, some avant-garde artists of Paris introducing avant-garde trends such as cubism, ultraism, constructivism and surrealism, a current that served as inspiration for the generation of 27.

Phases of the Spanish avant-garde in art

The periodization of the Spanish avant-gardes before the Civil War establishes four stages:

1. From 1908 to 1918, stage influenced by the Parisian avant-garde and with movements such as creationism and cubism.
2. From 1918 to 1925 constitutes the time of contact with surrealism. In Spain no organized avant-garde movement will emerge until the end of the First World War.
3. From 1925 to 1930
4. From 1930 to 1936, the beginning of the war will put an end to the development of the avant-garde, giving way to an official art and related to the regime and artists in exile, followers of the international avant-garde.

An overwhelmingly talented artist, Picasso became a referent of the art of the 20th century, being the promoter of some of the great avant-garde currents such as cubism, surrealism or abstraction.

Plays

Their construction site is enormous, highlighting works such as The Avignon ladies (1907), The three musicians (1921), Woman in front of the mirror (1932), Guernica(1937) and Seated woman with hat (1942).

John Gray he was another of the Spanish avant-garde painters. He is one of the leading figures in the cubist movement, standing out for the use of the technique of paper colle or the use of cardboard and paper cutouts glued to the canvas to create personal works and a most recognizable stamp of identity. In addition, this technique is considered the Gris's main contribution to Cubism.

Outstanding works

Between his plays stand out:

Violin and Guitar (1913), The Bottle of Anise (1914), The Grapes (1916), The Violin (1916), Jug and Glass (1916), The Mill coffee (1920), The open window (1921), The music book (1922), The guitar before the sea (1925) and The musician's table (1926).

Maria Blanchard is considered the great master of cubism. An artist who embraced the European avant-garde to create very personal cubist works in which she tried to introduce the dimension of time. In the 1920s she replaced cubism with a own style in which geometric figures, angular shapes and dark colors abound. A highly recognized and valued artist

Plays

From her cubist period the following stand out: Woman with a fan (1916), Nature morte cubiste (1917), Cubist composition (1918); from her second period: La communicant (1923), Still Life (1926) or Family Meal (1929).

Great artist of the generation of 27 and free spirit, Maruja Mallo was one of the young intellectuals of the group of the "hatless”. In artistic terms, he followed the current of surrealism, going from a colorful and optimistic stage in the 1920s to a sad and gloomy one in the 1930s.

Plays

Between his plays The following stand out: La verbena (1927), an example of colorful painting, and Antro defossiles (1930) or Tierra y excrementos (1932), as examples of its darkest phase.

If you want to read more articles similar to Spanish avant-garde painters and their works, we recommend that you enter our category of History.

• BRIHUEGA, Jaime. The artistic vanguards in Spain, 1909-1936. AKAL editions, 1981.
• GARCIA GARCIA, Isabel. Origins of the artistic avant-gardes in Madrid (1909-1922). 1998.
• VAL CUBERO, Alejandra. The professionalization of Spanish women artists. The case of Maruja Mallo (1902-1995) and Amalia Avia (1926-2011). 2013.
• WENTZLAFF-EGGEBERT, Harald. Literature, arts and life in the Spanish avant-gardes. from Gruyter, 1998.