The Myth
of Spain

In nine thematic chapters the exhibition explores Zuloaga’s artistic career and locates him within the historico-cultural context of his time, including his close ties with the writers of the so-called Generation of ’98, the question of Spain’s self-image and its image as a foreign country within Europe, as well as Zuloaga’s connections to the Paris avant-garde. Furthermore, his reception specifically in Germany is addressed, which in return is linked to Zuloaga’s complex relationship with the Francoist administration and his instrumentalization by the fascist regime. The show departs from the established yet too narrowly considered classification of Zuloaga as a painter of melancholic, gloomy, “black” Spain—in contrast to, for example, Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923) as a representative of the cheerful, folkloristic, “white” side. Zuloaga’s oeuvre is thus re-examined in all its complexity. With this project, the Kunsthalle continues its Spanish-themed exhibitions like The Spanish Golden Age and Joaquín Sorolla, realized in 2016/17.

The Myth of Spain. Ignacio Zuloaga (1870–1945) is an exhibition by Kunsthalle München, in collaboration with Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg. The exhibition will be on view there from February 17 to May 26, 2024.

#ZuloagaMuc #KunsthalleMuc

Edited by Roger Diederen, Nerina Santorius and Carlos Alonso Pérez-Fajardo, with essays by Carlos Alonso Pérez-Fajardo, Katrin Dyballa, Charlotte Ewers, Ralf Junkerjürgen, Mikel Lertxundi Galiana, Helena Pereña, Nerina Santorius, Johanna Schumm and Birgit Thiemann.

224 pages, 24 x 29 cm, 168 color illustrations, hardcover, available in German, published by Deutscher Kunstverlag.