The Juan Llorens Children’s Art Collection emerged in Elche during the late 1970s, a period when a personal painting method relied on a slow, labor‑intense process. Pigments built up in the weave of the canvas through successive layers and dry glazes, producing a visual effect reminiscent of an ash shower crossing the pictorial space. Inspiration for the forms came from solidified lava spheres discovered around Lanzarote, a Canary Island that left a tangible mark on the artist’s approach. Circling the easel and the desk moved a toddler named Sergio, born in La Laguna in 1974, who explored freely. He inhabited a house with gentle boundaries for the smallest missteps, and once he learned the pencil, he began covering walls with spontaneous marks. Initial strokes climbed from near the baseboard as the months passed, creating a growing and changing record of lines. The scene shifted into a narrative of trains: the track began in his room, wandered through the bathroom and kitchen, and finally ran toward the artist’s workstation. A playful refrain accompanied the process: “Hi dad, I’m coming from Murcia on this super train but don’t hold me back, I want to go to America this afternoon,” and the opposite wall echoed with the chuf-chuf-chuf rhythm. There were moments when Sergio returned by steamboat, leaving a long smoke trail that trailed a dark candle’s glow.
The arrival of Emma, Sergio’s sister, in Elche in 1978 altered the domestic wall space, which had grown crowded and more civilized. Free wall real estate was scarce, yet the siblings continued to generate a steady stream of drawings. Emma, just four years younger, found inspiration in a different cadence as she watched Sergio create vehicles, scenes of war, and bold shark‑catch narratives on cardboard. Her stories soon followed, featuring farms, chickens, rabbits, and butterflies, forming a rich sequence of quiet, farming‑tinged imagery. The siblings’ works reflected distinct personalities: Sergio preferred drawing, Emma gravitated toward painting, and their evolving graphics carried the informal spirit of a family atelier.
Witnessing the ongoing development of Sergio and Emma, a decision formed to stamp each finished work with its completion date and preserve the pieces as family keepsakes. What began as a personal archive expanded into a structured, chronological collection of children’s art, narrating a journey from playful doodles to increasingly realistic visual expression. The collection now documents growth across shared spaces and time, revealing how early scribbles matured into more complex representations.
The collection encompasses drawings, paintings, collages, and embroidery created by Sergio and Emma from early childhood through the brink of adulthood. Works were produced at home and at the Hort del Xocolater School of Painting in Elche, employing a variety of techniques and supports. Sergio leaned toward drawing, while Emma embraced painting, yet both contributions intertwined to form a cohesive family narrative.
The first public exhibition of the collection occurred in May 1987 at the Exhibition Hall of the Savings Bank of Alicante and Murcia, under the title Sergio and Emma (The principle of something). As new works appeared during 1991, when Sergio and Emma were 17 and 13 respectively, the collection was shown at the Municipal Park Museum under the banner Other exhibition organized by the Elche City Council, with accompanying talks for schools interested in the project.
As of April 2022, the lineage continued with Sergio’s sons Héctor (Orxeta, born 2013) and Emma’s children Alba (Elche, 2009) and Adrián (Elche, 2014). Collaborative efforts gained momentum; in 2017, Onion Lullabies to Miguel Hernández brought together paintings by Juan Llorens and Alba Granados at the Sala de la Orden Tercera in Elche. The Ode to Children’s Art series, created during the pandemic era and drawing on the drawings of Héctor and Adrián, remains poised for publication.
In keeping with a strong link between art and education, plans emerged to reuse the Collection as a didactic resource for Art Education. The vision includes interviews, lectures, and exhibitions aimed at educators, students, and the broader public. The goal is to present the rich plastic beauty of children’s expressions as subjects for observation and reflection, treating children’s work with the same seriousness afforded to artists in museums. The approach emphasizes accessible, uncomplicated artistic expressions that reveal the evolving graphic‑plastic development of individuals at different stages of growth, empowering students with creative confidence.
The aspiration continues, inviting ongoing exploration and study of the Collection as a living, educational resource for communities and audiences alike.