ZARAGOZA.- The Fundación Banco Santander presents Selecta. Del Greco a Picasso. Colección Santander an exhibition that joins together a selection of the most representative works of the Santander Collection. A total of 62 works will be exhibited in the Universidad’s de Zaragoza aasembly hall from December 2009 to March 2010.

The exhibition stands out for the presence of painting, coming across with canvas’ El Greco, Zurbarán, Alonso Cano, Rubens, Esquivel, Sorolla or Picasso, but also will boast sculptures by Chillida, Alberto Sánchez or Chirino and a tapestry by the Royale Manufacture de Beauvais.

Sixty-two works of art from the most distinguished of the Santander Collection – composed by over a thousand works belonging to five centuries and of which the Foundation has been in charge of, in its tasks of study, cataloguing and preservation – form an outstanding frieze- divided in three halls and two floors- from the 16th century until today. The careful selection of the works and the variety of artistic genres gathered transform the exhibition in an authentic artistic event.

The greatest part of exhibited works are paintings- made in oil on canvas – but supports such as panels, cardboards, paper and from the techniques the gouache and the Indian ink as well as mixed procedures can be found. All of it gives an idea of the richness and variety of the exhibition, not only in the chronological sequences established but also in the chosen group.

Five centuries of art with predominance of the painting and masters of the height of El Greco, Zurbarán, Van Dyck, Sorolla, Mir, Nonell, Picasso, Tàpies or the Aragonese Saura amongst other masters but also gathers great contemporary sculptors such as Chillida, Martín Chirino or Alberto Sánchez , as well an outstanding decorative work of art such as the tapestry made around 1700, from the exotic series History of the King of China, of the French manufacture of Beauvais.

From the 16th to the 18th Century(Ground Floor, Hall 1)
A walk through the art that starts with some of the Santander’s collection masterpieces such as The Sermon of St. John the Baptist by Lucas Cranach the Elder, the Ecce Homo by Luis de Morales —one of the best examples of the Spanish mysticism of the era – or entering already the Baroque, Valdés Leal with his Imposición del nombre de Jesús (The Conferring of the name of Jesus) and the splendid canvas by Alonso Cano with the recently restored La educación de la Virgen (The Education of the Virgin) and San Vicente Ferrer predicando (St. Vicent Ferrer Preaching) and tow treasures of the Collection such as the La virgen niña dormida, (The Child Virgin Asleep) canvas brimming with delicacy signed by Zurbarán, and the Cristo agonizante (Christ in his Death Throes) by El Greco , one of the oil paintings of his last era. The portrait is present in this hall with masters of the height of and his Michael Ophovius, Antooon Van Dyck and his fabulous Don Diego de Mexía, Marquis of Leganés, Tintoretto and Fray Juan Ricci, without forgetting the still lives by Juan de Arellano or Manerius.

From the 18th century, stand out Jean Baptiste Oudry and his Pair of Still Lives and Palomino with La batalla de Orán (the battle of Christ) or Valerio Iriarte and the unique work of the decorative arts genre of the exhibition The trip of the Prince of the Royal Manufacture of Beauvais, a tapestry in the Chinese fashion of this century.

From the 19th century to he 1st half of the 20th century (Ground Floor, Hall 2)
Retrato de caballero (Portrait of a knight) by Esquivel and two works by Pérez Villamil with the prominence of the Cathedral of Seville make up the beginning of this landscaping and architectonic journey that has its continuation in the painting by Martín Rico y Ortega, Patio del palacio de los Dux de Venecia (Courtyard of the Venice’s Dux Palace) where he shows his pictorial talents for his famous commissions of vedutte, without forgetting Las hijas del Cid (The cid’s daughters) by Ignacio Pinazo. Entering the age of impressionism, the exhibition continues wit two great portraits by Joaquín Sorolla, the one of Agustín Otermín and Retrato, (Portrait) accompanied by two others by Ramón Casas, one of the most sought-after of his era and as it couldn’t be otherwise, his contemporary and friend Rusiñol with Barcas en el Sena (Small Boats in the Seine) and El paseo de los plátanos(Avenue of the Plane Trees) making us to discover the gardens of Aranjuez. Entering already the postimpressionism, we find Isidre Nonell with his Dolors or Darío de Regoyos with two landscape canvas and Francisco Iturrino together with a painter very much represented in the Collection, that takes part with two landscapes: one of them Primavera, (Spring) authentic masterpiece.

Entering the 20th century a bit further on, Gutiérrez Solana plays an important role in the Collection, represented in the exhibit with the retrato de Valentín Ruiz Senén (portrait of Valentín Ruiz Senén) and the El espejo y la muerte, (Death’s mirror) a reflection of his most personal world, without forgetting the great Panneau (Panel) by Julio Romero de Torres or the seductive work by Daniel Vázquez Díaz, El pájaro y el niño celeste (The Bird and the Little Boy in Pale Blue). At the end of this floor one of the most important work of the Collection can be gazed at Busto de caballero III (1967) (Bust of a knight) by Picasso, one of his latest works, made in one day, but not for it exempt from quality.

Second half of the 20th century (Basement Floor)
Antoni Clavé wih his Painting opens the representation of the most contemporary painting of the Collection, one of the most important in Europe. José Guerrero, Paisaje (1967)(Landscape), Antoni Tàpies with two works of his maturity such as Pintura, tierra, collage y cordel (Painting, earth, collage and cord) y Ventana al vacío; (Window at the void) Lucio Muñoz and his Serie encendida en verano,(Series Lightened in Summer) example of how the wood in his work
passes from being a mere support to having a main presence, besides the two gouaches by Pablo Palazuelo that the Collection preserves entitled Panoplia I (Panoply I) and Lunariae, are represented Viola or Manolo Millares with his Homúnculo and Luis Feito. The Aragonese Antonio Saura with Dama en su habitación (Lady in her Room), drawing belonging to the series Habitaciones (Rooms), closes this pictorial chapter.

As far as the sculptorial section is concerned, the Collection is represented by a range of artists of great renown of the second half of the 20th century such as Alberto Sánchez and his Pájaro bebiendo agua (Bird drinking work) Pablo Serrano and Hombre con puerta, (Man with Door), the air and majesty of Chillida with Toki (1969) and Elogio de la luz XVI, (Tribute to the light XVI) Alfaro with Ulises en Rocafort (Ulises in Rocafort) and as it couldn’t be otherwise, one of the great contemporary sculptors , Martín Chirino in his Raíz (Root