Por Redaccion 
The Museum of Fine Arts in Seville, under the Ministry of Culture and Sports, will exhibit a selection of Andalusian artists Diego López (1875-1969), Manuel González Santos (1875-1949), and Manuel Villalobos (1875-1938) from the museum’s collection starting on February 27. Among the works on display, there are two that are being exhibited for the first time in the galleries: the portraits of José López and the painter Manuel Villalobos Díaz, both by Diego López.
The exhibition, titled ‘Commemorated Andalusian Artists’, coincides with the 150th anniversary of the artists’ birth. Specifically, a total of seven works will be shown: the two mentioned earlier by Diego López, two more by Manuel González Santos (a self-portrait and ‘Without Bread!’, with a strong social theme), and three canvases by Manuel Villalobos (‘Beach of Rota’, ‘Mists on the River’, and ‘Spring Afternoon’).
The exhibition brings together the work of three Andalusian artists known for their realistic aesthetic and versatility in dealing with various pictorial genres, especially portrait and landscape. The exhibition will invite visitors on a journey through the most unique pictorial production of these artists, featuring works not usually displayed to the public.
Both Diego López and Manuel González Santos stand out in the same facet, portrait. Their trajectories, initially connected as they were born just a few streets apart in the vicinity of the Alfalfa square, diverge due to family economics. While González Santos begins teaching at the School of Fine Arts in Seville immediately after graduating from this institution, López cannot fulfill his dream of studying in Italy due to his father’s death.
Manuel Villalobos Díaz, on the other hand, excels as a landscape painter of the second generation of the Alcalá de Guadaíra School in Seville. His production, the least studied of the three, spans the landscape of the Guadalquivir riverbank, female portraits, and artistic ceramics. Among his exhibited works, his ability to capture different atmospheric conditions stands out, from the bright and blinding sun bathing the coast of Cadiz to the vague and melancholic light of the riverbanks.
It could be added to this commemoration the figure of Manuel García y Rodríguez, who passed away a hundred years ago, and who, along with his teacher Emilio Sánchez Perrier, was the most significant figure of the Alcalá School. Beyond the town of Alcalá and the banks of the Guadalquivir, García y Rodríguez explores the light of other Andalusian landscapes, such as those of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Rota, Córdoba, or Granada. In Room XII, his only work in the collections, ‘View of Seville’, can be admired.
The exhibition ‘Commemorated Andalusian Artists’ is part of the special cultural programming of the Ministry of Culture and Sports on the occasion of Andalusia Day, where cultural ensembles, museums, libraries, and archives have organized nearly a hundred activities for citizens to visit these spaces and explore Andalusian heritage.