On a tranquil Sunday morning with business activities on pause, a visitor chose to stroll the streets of Santa Cruz’s Old Town and revisit the Museum of Fine Arts of Alicante, MUBAG, housed in the Historic-Artistic Memorial Palace of the Count of Lumiares (XVIII) on Gravina Street. After a mild spring-to-autumn transition, with a slight delay, the cool, humid air of the Mediterranean arrived, inviting warmer clothing and the chance to enjoy the bright, inviting atmosphere of this sunny city.
Arriving at MUBAG, the visitor noticed on the main façade a transparent display housing the museum’s new open exhibition concept named La Ventana del Arte. The exhibit surveys the figurative path of the painter Javier Lorenzo and the work El espectador de las estaciones, which pays homage to Vicente Rodes.
Entering the museum, visitors ascend the bright central stairwell framed by two large canvases that feature the beloved Alicante artist Gastón Castelló. His stylized depictions of traditional Alicante landscapes inhabit a range of themes and motifs, including figures, settings, and customs from the 17th century Pa beneït: clavarises, elements such as torremanzanas adorned with flowers and finely woven textiles, and handmade bread carried by unmarried girls in a spring procession to Sant Gregori. An unforgettable memory recounted is a 1972 moment when a young Gastón Castelló created a grand canvas in the former CAPA hall and greeted the observer with a kind gesture after noticing the observer’s quiet, focused attention.
On the first floor, the journey continues into a past artistic milieu as if stepping into a time machine, allowing contemplation of the collection’s artifacts in light of religious art and the eras of Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and the 19th century. The collection is presented with luminous clarity.
Viewed from a respectful distance, the experience resembles a compact Prado Museum in Alicante. The display includes notable religious paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries, helping visitors understand the evolution of art from workshop practices to studio-leading individuality. Alongside paintings, sculptures, furniture, and other art objects are shown, emphasizing their meaning and relevance through time. The 19th century serves as a central axis in the exhibition narrative, reflecting political, social, and cultural shifts that shaped artistic and literary creation. Demonstrations at the turn of the century illustrate that progress was a shared pursuit.
In its ambitious planning, MUBAG demonstrates a commitment beyond merely exhibiting its own collection. It actively restores, exhibits, and collaborates with other major institutions and museums, expanding its reach through various collections and contributions. Notable partners include the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, the Valencia Museum of Fine Arts, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, and the Banco Sabadell Collection of the Alicante City Council. A close collaboration with the Museo Nacional del Prado is highlighted, with twenty-eight works currently loaned to MUBAG. [Citation: MUBAG collaboration and loans]
weather in Sorolla
During the visit, the museum’s latest temporary exhibit, Joaquín Sorolla and his Valencia-era paintings, drew attention. Dialogues and contrasts unfold as visitors rise to the second floor to view the exhibition, the third time, curated by Francisco Javier Pérez Rojas. This Sorolla centennial tribute marks the Year of Sorolla in the Community of Valencia and invites viewers into conversations about the artist’s time and concerns across several Valencian and Spanish peers.
Initial impressions include Sorolla’s renowned Impressionist canvases of graceful women in white, children by the sea with luminous figures, seascapes, and sailing boats. The exhibit presents a broader spectrum of the master’s work, including works by his daughter María Clotilde Sorolla García. Visitors encounter pieces by other contemporary artists that illuminate Sorolla’s versatility beyond landscape painting and highlight portraits and commissioned works from the upper social strata of his era.
This exhibition prompts reflection on the influence of early artists such as Joaquín Agrasot, Muñoz Degrain, Ignacio Pinazo, and Emilio Sala, alongside figures like Cecilio Pla, José Benlliure Gil, Mariano García Mas, Constantino Gómez, Ramón Casas, and Mariano Fortuny. It also features Sorolla’s students, including Manuel Benedito, José Mongrell, Pons Arnau, and Emilio Varela. The display weaves multiple storylines, iconographic processes, and visions into a cohesive narrative rather than a strict chronological progression. [Citation: Sorolla exhibition context]
Sara Navarro’s Designs
To conclude the visit, the tour returns to the museum’s entrance floor for a contemporary art experience titled Art as Inspiration. The Sara Navarro Collection is curated by Begoña Deltell and features around fifty works by notable national and international artists, including Alicante designer Sara Navarro’s footwear creations. The show, presented as a business and art project with global reach, emphasizes empowerment and gender equality, echoing ideas associated with thinkers such as Antonio Gramsci and Michel Foucault. It celebrates how modern women shape personal and social influence through talent, determination, and elegance, illustrating how creativity can merge commerce and art in a global stage. The exhibit foregrounds contemporary contrasts and a broad range of conceptual and formal approaches.
As colleague and friend Diumenge Boronat noted during the visit, MUBAG remains a Fine Arts museum that studies the artistic past while presenting itself as a living institution open to the present, recently hosting projects that resonate deeply with art lovers. [Citation: Diumenge Boronat remark about MUBAG’s living mission]