Page 26 - Contemporary Art and Old Masters

THE MUSEO NACIONAL
DEL PRADO IS RESTARTING
ITS ACTIVITIES WITH
UNINVITED GUESTS

Uninvited Guests
Curator: Carlos G. Navarro, curator in the Museum’s
department of 19th-century painting.

Episodes on Women, ideology and the visual arts in UNINVITED GUESTS
Spain (1833-1931) is the first temporary exhibition
to be organised by the Museo Nacional del Prado For Javier Solana, President of the Royal Board of
following its reopening on 6 June. It offers a reflection Trustees of the Museo Nacional del Prado: “This
on the position of women and the various roles they exhibition clearly reflects the Prado’s determination to
played within the Spanish art system, from the reign of continue being a reference point for culture, even in
Isabel II to that of her grandson Alfonso XIII. difficult times. For this reason I would like to express
Curated by Carlos G. Navarro, a curator in the my thanks for Fundación AXA’s commitment and in
Museum’s department of 19th-century painting, particular that of the staff of this institution, whose
and with the sponsorship of Fundación AXA, this efforts and dedication and have made it possible”.
exhibition is on display in Rooms A and B of the
Jerónimos Building until 14 March 2021. Structured Uninvited Guests is the first exhibition to be organised
into 17 sections, it features a selection of more by the Museo Nacional del Prado following its
than 130 works, the majority from the Prado’s own reopening. It aims to offer a reflection on the way
holdings plus others loaned from the royal collections in which the structures of power defended and
of Patrimonio Nacional and from public and private disseminated the role of women in society through
collections. Most of these works were exhibited in the visual arts, from the reign of Isabel II to that of her
international exhibitions or were awarded prizes at the grandson Alfonso XIII. During that period the Museo
National Exhibitions, which were established in 1853 del Prado became a key element for the acquisition
to encourage Spanish art and present an ideological and display of contemporary art, playing an important
image of the nation. role in the construction of the idea of a modern

Spanish school.

In the words of Olga Sánchez, President of Fundación
AXA: “Fundación AXA is extremely proud to be able
to contribute to this exceptionally daring exhibition
which champions the role of women and analyses the
hostility with which they were treated by the Spanish
art system in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We
have been collaborating with the Prado for twenty-
one years and every exhibition surpasses the previous
one.”

Structured into episodes particularly representative of
this art system, Uninvited Guests generates a series of
Chrysalid
Pedro Sáenz Sáenz (1863-1927),Oil on canvas, 1897, Sevilla, Cuartel
General Fuerza Terrestre del Ejército de Tierra, long-term loan from Museo On screen, Carlos G. Navarro, curator of the exhibition.
Nacional del Prado. Photo © Museo Nacional del Prado Photo © Museo Nacional del Prado.

26 WORLD of ART