pinned.events

Women are a central theme in Julio González’s work, and this unprecedented selection from the IVAM collection confirms it. Family portraits, depictions of modern women, academic and abstract nudes, real and idealized figures, and historical and political allegories all trace his stylistic evolution from full forms to hollow ones, and from figuration to abstraction. His sculptures are also rich in meaning, reflecting the emancipation of contemporary women and their movement from the private sphere into public life, from silence to speech. This chronological and thematic presentation highlights the main stages of his development by linking life and artistic creation, intimacy and history: early professional models, portraits of family members, peasant and urban women, mothers and readers, real figures and idealized types, and nearly abstract standing figures such as political allegories. The exhibition also draws attention to his family environment and its influence on his sculpture, including the goldsmith’s workshop of his aunts and his wife, as well as his own decorative objects, connected in the 1920s and 1930s to the adornment of a new female body. Paying tribute to Julio González’s work also means remembering the three strong women who remained faithful to his memory: his daughter, the abstract artist Roberta González, whose work still awaits full study beyond her father’s influence, and her generous heirs, Carmen Martínez and Viviane Grimminger, whose donations expanded the IVAM collection.