The Painting of María Dolores Casanova (1914-2007): Study of Her Career and Artistic Work

Abstract

The recent acquisition of a work by María Dolores Casanova by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía implies an artistic recognition that had been denied for decades. The artist occupied a prominent place in the Valencian artistic scene from 1969 until the end of the eighties. However, she has been progressively falling into oblivion. The research presented here has an unprecedented character, given the absence of comprehensive analysis of her painting, and constitutes the first exhaustive and in-depth study of her trajectory and her pictorial work. Its main objective is to correct the lack that her omission implies in the history of art of the 20th century in our country. To this end, numerous of her creations, belonging to museums and private collections, have been examined, interviews have been conducted with her relatives, and unpublished documents have been consulted at the CIDA of MACVAC and the Museu de Belles Arts de València.