In the mid 1960s, the artist joined national painting halls and last year the Sureste Savings Bank organized a personal showing in Alicante. This long arc of activity is now documented through the collection that Fundación Mediterráneo has assembled about Eusebio Sempere over its history.
To mark the centenary of his birth yesterday, the foundation offers a guided tour of some of the 23 works in the collection, along with related articles, catalogs, and letters that illuminate the life and work of this master of kinetic art. Sempere is presented at the Foundation as a central figure in the movement and its evolution.
Three sculptures sit on the ground floor known as He mobile S and Organ. A piece called Bird was brought from Elche and is placed in its usual position. The sculptures are complemented by a video that outlines the Sempere universe and its ideas about motion and perception.
The second space on the first floor features light installations and rods that meet the signed portrait of the Onil artist. Juan Barjola is represented through comprehensive documentation on view in the display cases that accompany the works.
Archive curator Carmen Velasco highlights the link between Sempere and Caja del Sureste as a living thread that runs through the collection and the foundation’s recent program.
What the foundation emphasizes is a projection of the close connection between Sempere and the regional bank that supported his early career and continues to preserve his legacy to date.
Sempere a Century Ago
The foundation traces a clear orbit for the artist. In addition to the works already mentioned, it documents a 1976 exhibition in the Ramón y Cajal hall with Arcadio Blasco, Juana Frances, and Sixto Marco. It was there that Sempere announced his wish to donate the 20th Century Art Collection to Alicante.
Tribute Exhibition
A memorial exhibition followed his passing in 1985, and a 1987 tribute to Eusebio Sempere recalled his impact. After his death, traveling exhibitions and ongoing acquisitions continued to enrich the collection.
Graphic works that were not normally shown were also published as part of this broader dissemination.
The tour ends at La Llum, where an example of the artist’s legacy from Onil is shown. More than 3,000 documents accompany works by Gabriel Miró, Óscar Esplá, and Emilio Varela, including correspondence such as the Prince of Asturias Award file and thousands of letters and photographs kept in the archive.
As Luis Boyer, president of the Mediterráneo Foundation, notes, the aim is to reveal the full breadth of the collection to the public. The La Llum documentary center was created to make this knowledge accessible to teachers and students alike.
Carmen Morales, who oversees Real Estate and Artistic Heritage for the foundation, explains that the centennial celebration also serves to valorize the artist’s relationship with the foundation, the present entity, and the ongoing efforts to maintain the collection for the public. A potential digitization of the legacy is under discussion with the Alicante City Council, though no decision has been made yet.
Until a later date, visits remain free. A guided tour is required to enter La Llum, inviting visitors to explore the full scope of Sempere’s influence in the context of local art, modern sculpture, and kinetic theory.