The City Museum reopens its doors after almost a year of works with the exhibition “The city of artists. Joaquín Sorolla and the Palace of Arts and Industries of Valencia” and which includes 140 works by artists from the same period as Sorolla and which are a sample of the Valencian cultural effervescence in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The exhibition has been curated by Jaume Penalba, specialist in Valencian painting of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and coordinated by the acting director of the center, Marta López Ricarte. In total, more than 140 works by Valencian artists with a career parallel to that of Sorolla I are exhibited, which are an expression of the effervescent artistic environment that was lived in Valencia at the turn of the century.
The most important museums and Valencian entities have donated works for the exhibition. Among the participating artistic centers are the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia, the Municipal Museum of Alzira (MUMA), the Museum of Medallistics Enrique Giner de Nules, the Pinazo House Museum of Godella, the Territorial College of Architects of Valencia, the University of Valencia, the Benlliure House Museum, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, the Manuel Benedito Foundation and the Manaut Museum, as well as numerous private collectors. The exhibition can be visited throughout 2023 and is part of the commemorative events of the Year of Sorolla.
In parallel, the temporary exhibition hall of the City Museum exhibits the exhibition “Javier Calvo 2014-2022”, which will remain open until May 28.
The exhibition is the first event planned for the reopening to the public of the City Museum, which has been in works for almost a year for the installation of a new air conditioning system and more efficient lighting in all rooms. The works ensure the perfect conservation of the collections and the energy sustainability of the building. However, some work is still pending on the upper floors of the building.