Maruja Mallo

MARUJA MALLO (Vivero, Lugo, 1902 - Madrid, 1995)
"The Easter Verbena, 1927".
Analog photography.
The framing includes three graphite drawings by unknown author.
Signed by Maruja Mallo and dedicated to Luis Alberti (Rafael Alberti's cousin).
Measurements: 15 x 23 cm; 38 x 40 cm (frame).
Lot consists of three drawings of unknown authorship and a blank photograph of "La verbena de Pascua", a painting by Maruja Mallo painted in 1927, signed by the artist and dedicated to Luis Alberti, Rafael Alberti's cousin and son of "Lola" the aunt with whom Rafael Alberti began to paint. It should be noted that Maruja Mallo and Rafael Alberti maintained a sentimental relationship for years. Both artists influenced each other greatly in fact, in the work "Sermones y moradas" or "Sobre los ángeles", Alberti is inspired by Maruja's paintings.
One of the main representatives of Spanish surrealism, born Ana María Gómez González, Maruja Mallo was trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, and in 1927 she took an active part in the first Vallecas School. In this same decade of the twenties she began to be known through various publications, and in 1928 she exhibited individually for the first time, in the salons of the "Revista de Occidente". In 1932 he traveled to Paris thanks to a pension, and there he participated in the gatherings of André Breton and Paul Éluard, beginning his surrealist period with masterpieces of the movement as "Scarecrow", acquired by Breton himself. On his return to Madrid he participated in the Society of Iberian Artists, and one of his paintings was acquired by the French government for the National Museum of Modern Art. With the outbreak of the war he went into exile in Buenos Aires, where he achieved rapid recognition. From then on, he exhibited his work in Argentina, Paris, Brazil and New York. With the arrival of Peronism Mallo left Argentina and moved to New York, finally returning to Spain in 1965. Here he continued to work successfully, and in the eighties he was awarded the Medal of Merit in Fine Arts and the Plastic Arts Award of Madrid. She is currently represented in the MNCA Reina Sofía, the Artium in Vitoria, the Patio Herreriano in Valladolid and other important collections, both Spanish and international.