Temps Moderns proposes a critical review of the contemporary Spanish painting collection of the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia, focused on the period between the decades of 1940 i 1970. This chronological arc, key to understanding artistic modernization in Spain that emerged from the Civil War, has traditionally been relegated in museum discourses as it sits between classical art and the latest trends of the late 20th century. The exhibition is organized around the acquisitions made by the State from 1968, under the direction of Felipe Garín, which show the desire of the Fine Arts Museum of Valencia to build a story about Valencian artists after the Civil War. In recent years, the names of Francisco Sebastián have been added to this nucleus, Juana Francés or Aurora Valero, providing a more comprehensive view of postwar creation.
The exhibition is structured in three cores: New figure; Postwar abstraction; and Landscape and still life. In figuration, an evolution is observed from expressionist approaches towards proposals with a great critical charge, especially from the sixties onwards, with collectives such as Estampa Popular or l'Equip Crònica, that incorporated visual strategies linked to Pop Art. in parallel, abstraction was progressively assumed and promoted as an emblem of modernity, generating informal proposals, geometric and optical as those represented by Eusebio Sempere or José María Yturralde. The tour is completed with the landscape and the painting of objects, understood as spaces for identity and social reflection. Through formal deconstruction and the expressive use of color, the Valencian artists offered a critical look at their territory immersed in economic and social transformations.
