Alicante Museum of Fine Arts (Mubag) participated in the Expanded Meadow project edited by the National Prado Museum to ensure greater consistency across works. The exhibition travels to more than sixty galleries across Spain, strengthening its regional or thematic ties and expanding visibility and social impact in the communities where it is shown.
Currently Mubag preserves and displays all 28 works originally housed by the National Prado Museum. These pieces support educational activities, audiovisual components in the exhibition, and integration into innovative programs. The collection is disseminated through social networks, the Mubag website, and academic publications tied to the permanent display. The project also features a geolocation application and related educational tools, linked to the European initiative mentioned above, which highlights how the works engage audiences beyond the museum walls.
Jorge Soler, Mubag’s director, attended a recent Madrid meeting with representatives from more than 60 galleries and the creators of Expanded Meadow. The plan involves reorganizing 3,424 works to fit the needs of the museums hosting them, a task that has begun with success at Mubag and several other centers across the country.
El Prado begins the national expansion project with Mubag
This ongoing initiative centers on a dynamic collaboration where Prado lends works and engages in joint activities in education and research. It encompasses social media outreach and communications strategies, and it enables timely loans of masterpieces to museums nationwide, following the touring model established during Spain’s Bicentennial celebrations in 2019.
A relationship that began in 1932
Soler explained that the collaboration between Mubag and Prado dates back to 1932, when the General Directorate of Fine Arts sent a series of pictures from the then Museum of Modern Art to decorate the Provincial Palace for its opening. Years later, Mubag has welcomed visitors and has periodically requested deposits from local artists to complete the dialogue within the permanent collection.
Mubag will exhibit 8 works from the Prado Museum in its next permanent display
As Soler noted, in 2021 Prado collections began to illuminate the most significant events and figures of the 19th century for a broader audience. The current permanent 19th-century display highlights the evolution of painting through the works of artists such as Mubag, Antonio Gisbert, Emilio Sala, Lorenzo Casanova, and Fernando Cabrera, among others. The exhibition also helps trace the careers of contemporaries such as Cecilio Pla, Francisco Maura, and Manuel Benedito, offering visitors a deeper understanding of the period and its influences.