Maqueta del Pabellón de España en la Exposición Internacional de París de 1937 (Spanish Pavilion Model for the International Exhibition of Paris, 1937)

The Spanish Pavilion at the International Exposition in Paris in 1937 was an example of rationalist architecture and the use of modern functional materials applied to traditional building plans, such as the architectural distribution around a patio. The building acted as a kind of screen to show foreign powers that here was a state which, in spite of the circumstances caused by a Civil War, enjoyed social, cultural and economic activity, contributing to a political project aimed at uniting modernity and humanity. Once both the architecture and the curatorship had been put in the hands of Luis Lacasa, the project was joined by Josep Lluís Sert, Spain’s most internationally known architect at the time. Both men collaborated on a building that contrasted sharply with the monumentality of the other European pavilions and was clearly designed for the diversity of the works being exhibited and the activities being run, in order to garner international aid and to proclaim the continued strength of a Republic under siege.
The model, built in 1987 for the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía exhibition Pabellón Español. Exposición Internacional de París, 1937, is an exact reproduction of the building’s architecture and most of the artworks it housed. Standing in front of the main entrance were the Alberto Sánchez sculpture El pueblo español tiene un camino que conduce a una estrella, (There Is a Way for the Spanish People That Leads to a Star, 1937), Montserrat (1936-1937) by Julio González, and Pablo Picasso’s Dama oferente (Woman with Vase, 1933). The ground floor patio contained Picasso’s Guernica (1937), Alexander Calder’s Mercury Fountain (1937), and led to a ramp to the upper floors where works including Joan Miró’s mural Payés catalán en rebeldía (Catalan Peasant in Revolt) also known as El segador (The Reaper) and Josep Renau’s photomontages. Another semi-covered traditional-looking patio was dedicated to film showings, theatre performances and demonstrations of traditional dances.

Carmen Fernández Aparicio