The correspondence of Maruja Mallo is essential to understanding the most important Spanish artist of the 20th century and one of the most significant on the international scene, comparable for her original and universal language to artists like Frida Kahlo or Georgia O’Keeffe. Maruja defies any classification: a unique figure, ahead of her time and transgressive, she was a free woman who embodied a new ideal of the independent modern woman. An important figure in the vibrant Madrid of the 1920s and 30s, through these letters – the vast majority unpublished – she allows us to delve into the fascinating world of the Generation of '27 and the Residencia de Estudiantes, her friendship with Dalí – a fellow student at the Academy of Fine Arts – Lorca, Buñuel, Gregorio Prieto, Alberti, and many others. This correspondence gives us insights into her friendships but also her ambition as an artist.
“Each letter, each recipient, returns an unexpected and plural image of Maruja Mallo; each one of the people who inhabit this extraordinary creator.” Estrella de Diego
“A task as meticulous as it is necessary, reaffirming the relevance and significance of Maruja Mallo.” Tània Balló
Maruja Mallo’s letters provide key insights to understand one of the great artists of the 20th century.
Maruja Mallo (Vivero, Lugo, 1902–Madrid, 1995) is one of the most important artists of the 20th century. A fundamental figure in Madrid during the 1920s and 30s, she was one of the modern and transgressive Sinsombrero. Friend of, among others, Dalí, Lorca, Buñuel, Alberti, Concha Méndez, María Zambrano, and Gómez de la Serna. In 1928 she exhibited her series Las Verbenas in Revista de Occidente with great success. In 1937 she went into exile in Argentina where, fascinated by this new world, she created her original series. Upon her return to Madrid in the 1960s, she was rediscovered by a young generation fascinated both by her work and her unique personality.
Guillermo de Osma. Art Historian and Gallerist. He has been working on Maruja Mallo for over thirty years, organizing three major exhibitions of her work in his gallery, showing her American work for the first time. He is co-author of the Catalogue Raisonné of Maruja Mallo’s paintings (2021), which includes a lengthy essay on the artist’s years in Argentina. Since 1992, he has collaborated with museums and foundations in organizing the three major exhibitions of the artist.
