The Prado Celebrates the Unique Creative Freedom of Antonio Muñoz Degrain

'The Lovers of Teruel', a magnificent work by Antonio Muñoz Degrain (1840–1924), overshadowed much of the rest of the oeuvre of one of the most original figures in 19th-century Spanish art. He triumphed as a landscape and historicist painter, with a touch of Orientalism, and has around twenty paintings in the Prado's collections. A brief mentor to Picasso at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, the gallery honours his unique creative freedom with a chamber exhibition featuring a decade of works. These will be displayed in room 60 of the Villanueva building, dedicated to the 19th century, until January 11th.

The most iconic piece of the exhibition is 'Landscape of El Pardo as the Fog Clears' (1866), restored for the occasion and considered the painter's most outstanding landscape. "His loose brushwork in certain aspects recalls the technique of Velázquez," says Javier Barón, curator of the first Muñoz Degrain exhibition at the Prado and head of 19th-century painting at the museum. The painting's "astonishing capture of atmosphere" earned its creator a medal at the National Exhibition of 1866.

Four other paintings by Muñoz Degrain have been restored for an exhibition that showcases "the thematic variety, technical mastery, aesthetic vision, and exceptional chromatic quality," as highlighted by Barón about the Valencian painter.

The exhibition also revives his role as a painter of historical and literary themes. The preparatory pencil study for his most famous work, 'Memories of Granada' (1881, in room 63 A), or 'View of Granada and Sierra Nevada' (c. 1915) "illustrate his subjective and evocative approach to landscape, where imagination blends with reality," summarises the curator.

In room 75 of the Prado shines 'The Lovers of Teruel' (1884), the pinnacle of historicist painting by a Muñoz Degrain "who was aware of being a 'rare bird' who, against the prevailing naturalism, opted for sincerity in art," according to Barón about an artist who taught a young Pablo Picasso enrolled in the 1897-1898 course at San Fernando, in drawing classes by Moreno Carbonero and landscape classes by Antonio Muñoz Degrain, a friend of the genius's father.

"Picasso did not attend with the regularity expected, according to the professors, and Muñoz Degrain wrote to his father saying he was unsure if Pablo had benefited from the academic year. In the end, he did: he skipped classes but did not waste time, as he became a regular visitor and copyist at the Prado," explains Javier Barón.

The artist's fascination with North African exoticism is evident in 'The Moroccan Listeners' (1879); religious painting in 'Jesus in the Tiberias' (1909); and everyday detail in 'Corner of a Toledo Courtyard' (1904), works that had not been exhibited until now. In 'Before the Wedding', the depiction of Isabel de Segura, the painting's protagonist, "reveals Venetian influence in the vibrant colouring and loose brushwork," according to the curator. In October, two more works will be added. One will be the preparatory pencil study for 'The Lovers of Teruel', as specified by Alfonso Palacio, Deputy Director of Conservation and Research at the Prado.

The work 'Interior of Muñoz Degrain's Studio in Valencia', by his friend Francisco Domingo Marqués, adds a valuable testimony to the artistic life and the importance of the painting in 19th-century Valencia. Alongside the paintings, the exhibition includes in a display case Muñoz Degrain's speech upon joining the San Fernando Academy (1899), dedicated to "sincerity in art", and a drawing incorporated by donation to the collections and a photograph of his portrait by sculptor Miguel Blay.

The Prado continues with this exhibition the line initiated in 2009 of showcasing interesting sets from the museum's vast 19th-century collection through small monographs, which have already featured artists such as Aureliano de Beruete, Rogelio de Egusquiza, Genaro Pérez Villaamil, Federico de Madrazo, Antonio María Esquivel, Francisco Pradilla, Joaquín Sorolla, Eduardo Rosales, and José de Madrazo (drawings); techniques, such as watercolour in the era of Fortuny and his followers; themes, such as religious painting in the mid-century and children's portraits in Romanticism; and donations, such as that of Hans Rudolf Gerstenmaier. These have been joined by sculptor Miguel Blay and 19th-century Japanese prints.