Spain Beyond the Myths

The imagery of Spanishness sprang from the interaction between travellers who fell in love with the country and the Spanish artists whose works matched their imaginings. The art of the 19th century contains motifs that accentuate Spain’s exoticism and unique characteristics. Today, tourists from all over the world are still looking for an authentic Spain rooted in these images.

The themes of these artworks draw particularly on the culture of the Andalusian region with its flamenco and bullfighting. These images are also bound up with fanciful, unreal attributes and ideals. The paintings highlight the traditions of the country, its people, and the styles of its different regions. Behind the evocative situations in the paintings by José Maria Gallegos y Arnosa (1857–1917) and Francisco Pradilla (1848–1921) there is also a focus on handicrafts. The artists were further inspired by orientalism, i.e. by exotic, Eastern motifs also found in their own local regions. Travels extending to culturally diverse Andalusia, or even to Africa, are evident in the works of Mariano Fortuny (1838–1874) and Joaquín Agrasot (1836–1919). Francisco de Goya’s (1746–1828) prints, meanwhile, rather than glorifying Spanish culture, bring in a note of social critique.

Spanish artists also spent time in European art centres, such as Paris and Rome. The influence of mythical Spanishness went with them, but in the innovative atmosphere of these thriving hubs, many artists switched to more international modes of expression. For example, in Joaquín Sorolla’s (1863–1923) paintings light often plays the main role. There was also room for the landscape and the modernising world among the themes of the artists of the new age.

The exhibition takes us from paintings that draw on the traditions of the 19th century and the ideals and myths of Spanishness towards the new era and international movements. The curators are Helena Alonso and J. Òscar Carrascosa. This is the first time that Spanish painting from the 19th and 20th centuries has been shown on this scale in Finland.