Reina Sofia Museum presents a vivid Elche Art History gem: a collage that merges the figure of artist and poet Jiri Kolar with a Magritte-inspired mood, echoing the Lady of Elche. This piece quietly shifts attention toward football history as well.
The collage’s backstory is a commemorative tale. It was produced as part of a series of posters created to honor the 1982 Football World Cup, held in Spain. A group of prominent artists of the era were invited to craft works inspired by the stadiums and cities hosting the matches, with Kolár’s Elche as a central influence.
The poster depicts the “masked” Lady alongside a central image drawn from Henri Rousseau’s Les joueurs de football, painted in 1908. The viewing window through which the artwork unfolds is the Lady of Elche herself. The traditional brown leather ball from the Rousseau painting has been enlarged into a contemporary sphere, signaling a deliberate emphasis on both the Lady and the World Cup as focal points of the poster.
‘Things’ by Rosario de Velasco: a hidden treasure on display at Thyssen in Alicante
Alechinsky and his ‘dribbling’ for Alicante
A poster linked to Elche was not created solely for recognition of the World Cup. With one match played at Rico Pérez, Alicante gained its own commemorative piece. Pierre Alechinsky titled the work “dribbling,” capturing the ball’s movement during a solo play.
State in the “nets” of Reina Sofia
It isn’t the first time that Museo Reina Sofia has shared images tied to its social media campaigns. Using the hashtag #DespiertaConArte, the museum has highlighted an intriguing Alicante-born artist’s work. Emilio Varela (1887-1951), a student of Joaquín Sorolla, explored several styles, including cubism.
The post from the Madrid museum describes Varela as “a great master of painting and color” and references Blue Shore to Peñón de Ifach, dated 1923.
The image evokes a scene that could be set by Peñón de Ifach, Gabriel Miró, or Carmelina Sánchez Cutillas: a coastline, the sea, and a sunlit rock. In the face of such an idyllic, ancient mood, some online voices responded with sharp sarcasm, joking about the lack of urban development in the foreground.
Alicante, Elche, Orihuela, Elda and Sax in the 19th century through the eyes of J. Laurent
Reina Sofia also shared vintage images from 1880 featuring various cities in the province and beyond, including the capitals of the region as well as Barcelona, Seville, Santander, Cádiz, Cartagena, and San Sebastián. These old photographs offer a glimpse of how the area once looked, inviting viewers to consider how much has changed over time.
Through this initiative, the museum encourages people to explore different places and histories, even as landscapes and communities evolve across decades.