Photographs of Theatre that could not be. Maruja Mallo´s stage designs

Abstract

Over the first half of the 20th century, avant-garde painters delved into theatre art and conceived innovative designs they put forward to break through the prevailing naturalism of the time. Spanish painter Maruja Mallo (1902-1995) also took an interest in stage design, first through her reciprocally influenced work with Rafael Alberti and then on her own. She produced designs that have been recorded in both her own and others’ photographs and in comments attesting to her work in this field. Both the silence of her former lovers (Rafael Alberti and Miguel Hernández) in this regard and traditional attitudes about women on the part of other intellectuals of the time together, coupled with the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War and exile have left very few vestiges of her interesting stage design work, to which she had attached a great deal of importance before the war. This article highlights Maruja Mallo’s unique stage designs, her identity as compared to other influential artists, and her influence and legacy, in addition to explaining these designs’ links to architecture.