Menchu Gal. Images of a Life

From 20 March to 28 June, the Espacio Cultural Serrería Belga will host an exhibition devoted to the pioneering artist, Menchu Gal, who stood out for her strong artistic personality and for being the first woman to receive the Spanish National Painting Award in 1959.

Organised in conjunction with the Menchu Gal Foundation, this exhibition forms part of the Serrería Belga’s exhibitions.  Menchu Gal (Irún 1919-2008) stood out for her strong pictorial personality and for creating her own artistic universe that was a reflection of her restless and cosmopolitan spirit.

The exhibition displays a selection of works that enable the artist’s artistic evolution to be traced through landscapes, portraits, still lifes and interiors. It also features works from private collections, Irún City Council and the Menchu Gal Foundation. This exhibition marks the twentieth anniversary of her last solo exhibition in Madrid, where she lived for more than 50 years and was part of the Vallecas School. 

Her paintings stand out for their chromatic colour palette, luminosity and expressiveness, which are the reflection of an independent nature forged by both the context of war and the complex aesthetic variability of the 20th century. In her portraits, most of which feature women, Menchu Gal used a deliberate brushstroke on her subjects’ faces, aiming to go beyond their physical appearance and capture their essence.

Image Credit:

• With Gaspar Montes Iturrioz, Benjamín Palencia, Eduardo Chillida, Luis Vallet, Manolo Montes and Jorge Oteiza.