2019_10_31_expo-altamira

The School of Architecture and the Library Services of the University of Navarre have presented in a exhibition the intricacies that led to the creation of the Altamira School, a milestone in the renewal of Spanish art in the post-war period and a pioneer in the use of abstract language in various artistic manifestations. One of the most important proposals of this artistic movement was the integration of the arts in architecture.  

The University'sfile makes available for the event the collection staff donated by Pablo Beltrán de Heredia, who was University Secretary of the Library Services of Santander and one of the main promoters of the summer courses of the Menéndez Pelayo University. Beltrán de Heredia is considered one of the promoters of cultural life in the Cantabrian capital along with the poet and critic Ricardo Gullón, the painter Pancho Cossío, the sculptor Jesús Otero and the poets José Hierro and Julio Maruri, among others. 

The sample, which can be seen until December at the entrance hall of the Library Services, is structured in three blocks: cultural life in Santander; the Altamira School and the influence of the German sculptor Goeritz. The first block includes drawings for design of the flag of the Menéndez Pelayo University, letters about the preparation of the first summer courses, drawings, handwritten poems by Hierro, Maruri, Gerardo Diego and Vicente Alexandre, as well as sketches and letters by Goeritz for the reconstruction of Santander after the fire that destroyed the city.

The exhibition travels to the summers of 1948, 1949 and 1950 and tells the story of the friendship between Beltrán de Heredia and Mathias Goeritz. The finding of the cave paintings was an inner revolution for the German artist, who decided to promote a new school of art. It was in 1948 when the Altamira School was born. The two art weeks in Santillana del Mar at the end of the summers of 1949 and 1950, promoted by Goeritz, Gullón and Beltrán de Heredia, which brought together artists and critics to generate "a new social dimension of art", are part of the influence of the Altamira School. The exhibition includes the first advertising poster for the Altamira caves, the notes of the art week program and documentation on Goeritz's various initiatives in Spain.

The opening ceremony was presided over by the director of the School of Architecture, Miguel Ángel Alonso del Val; that of Library Services, Víctor Sanz; the deputy director of the file, Inés Irurita; and the curator of the exhibition and professor at the school, Héctor Devesa. "The Spanish postwar period brought with it a change in the look and understanding of art and architecture. It was a time of reconstruction in which the special look of the Altamira School towards primitive art, towards the most basic of human artistic expression, contributed enormously to the awakening of modernity," explained Miguel Ángel Alonso. For his part, Héctor Devesa stressed that the School of Altamira "is the first authority in Spain regarding the integration of the arts in architecture". The event ended with a visit to exhibition, guided by Devesa himself.