The making of MUBAG
‘THE FIGURATIVE generation. Prizes for the creation of a museum’, an exhibition of award-winning works in Alicante province’s national and provincial painting competition, which ran from 1952 to 1960, is open to the public at Alicante museum of fine art (MUBAG) until June 27.
The competition rules stipulated that the first prize winning entries in both the national and provincial categories became the property of the provincial government. The main purpose of which was for the paintings to be collected alongside existing works, in order to create a museum of Spanish fine art, an institution that was to become MUBAG.
Each edition of the contest had a specific theme – landscape, figure, or still life – and was judged by a specialised jury, among whom was the prestigious Spanish art historian José Camón Aznar.
Stand-out winners from the contest are Francisco Lozano with ‘Lavanderas’ and Francisco Pérez Pizarro’s ‘Atisbo de primavera en la alberca’ (Glimmer of spring in the pool).
The exhibition also includes works by Xavier Soler, Pedro Bueno, Pancho Cossío, Juan Bautista Porcar, Joaquín Michavila, Genaro Lahuerta, Juan Hernández Pijoan, Menchu Gal, Salvador Rodríguez Bronchú, José Pérezgil, Manuel Baeza, Manuel González Santana, Milagros Lambert, Ramón Castañer and Enrique Lledó.
The sixth and eighth editions also featured a sculpture category, which was won by Salvador Octavio Vicent Cortina and
Benjamín Mustieles Navarro respectively.
The style being promoted by the contest helped to renew interest in figurative art in Spain in the mid-20th century.
MUBAG is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10.00-18.00, and Sundays and public holidays from 10.00-14.00. It is closed on Mondays.
The museum is situated at Calle Gravina 13-15, Alicante.
Admission is free.