On the trail of the "lost" works of art that Franco's regime gave to the UB

BarcelonaIn 1942, the University of Barcelona (UB) needed artwork to decorate its halls. There was a way to get it without spending any money: National Artistic Heritage Defense Service (SDPAN). When the outbreak broke outCivil War, in July 1936The Generalitat attempted to protect the heritage. To preserve it from bombs, tens of thousands of works were seized and moved to various depots in Barcelona, ​​Olot, Manresa, Vic, Girona, Poblet, Viladrau, and so on. When Franco won the war, the Republicans voluntarily handed over pieces from private and public collections, including monasteries. All of this passed into the hands of the SDPAN (Spanish Nationalist Workers' Union), which, starting in 1939, began returning it to its owners. But many returns were never completed.

Thousands of these works that were not returned to their rightful owners were sent to museums, churches, public institutions, and universities. So far, eight beneficiary universities have been identified: the University of Alcalá de Henares, the Complutense University of Madrid, the University of Murcia, the University of Oviedo, the University of Valladolid, the University of Zaragoza, and the Menéndez Pelayo University of Santander. "The University of Barcelona is the only one that has investigated the origin of these works," explains Arturo Colorado, of the Complutense University and the researcher who conducted the investigation with Santos M. Mateos, of the University of Vic-Central University of Barcelona. The results can be seen in the exhibition. The dispersed art of Francoism, in the Aula Capella, until July 18. The Chapel is, in fact, partly the origin of it all.

Works to decorate a new chapel

The UB received two deposits, on January 17 and June 8, 1942. The first to request works of art to decorate university spaces was the Dean of Philosophy and Literature, Sebastián Cirac Estopañán. He received six canvases. The second was the parish priest, Francisco Gómez de Campillo, who acknowledged receipt of twenty-two objects: paintings, sculptures, pieces of jewelry, and liturgical vestments. The destination of all this art was the chapel, which began construction at the faculty after Franco's victory and remained in operation until the 1980s. The construction of this religious space was part of the transformation of the university, which was marked by the purge of up to 70% of the teaching staff. Consecrated on March 5, 1945, it not only hosted masses but also weddings.

The documentation exchanged between the UB and the SDPAN explicitly states that if the owner appears, the works must be returned. However, so far no one has claimed them, and tracing them is practically a detective activity. "We have only been able to determine the origin of one of the pieces, the sculpture of the Sacred Heart by Josep Llimona," explains Mateos. The sculpture entered the National Palace of Montjuïc in 1936 and was registered with the number 65949, without specifying its origin. "In that case, the clues came from the photographs," adds Santos. In the Library of Catalonia, there is a photograph taken by Josep Salvany in 1926 in the courtyard of the Fomento de la Piedad Catalana (Catalan Piety Promotion Office) where Llimona's work appears. This institution was Catalanist and had to be refounded with Franco's victory. Currently, it is the Balmes Library (9 Duran i Bas Street). There's another photograph showing the sculpture in storage, which the SDPAN opened to the public so anyone who could prove ownership could claim it. In Barcelona, ​​the main storage facility was the current headquarters of the Cartogràfic Institute of Catalonia, on Montjuïc.

Attempts to recover the works

In 1939, Josep Vives i Gatell, librarian of the Balmes Library, and the priest Eudald Serra filed a claim to recover the collection. Everything was returned to them, but not the sculpture. "It wasn't returned because Llimona's work wasn't identified and was considered lost," explains Santos. To date, the current directors of the Balmes Library have taken no steps to reclaim it. The origin of the rest of the works on display in the exhibition is unknown. "The UB received 29 works of painting, sculpture, goldsmithing, and religious attire," explains Colorado. Only 11 remain (nine paintings and two sculptures). The rest, especially the goldsmithing and religious attire, have disappeared. "They probably disappeared when the chapel ceased to be used for religious purposes," explains Agustí Alcoberro, Vice-Rector for Culture, Memory, and Heritage at the UB.

Among the works on display in the exhibition, whose origin is unknown, are oil paintings on canvas with religious themes from the 17th and 18th centuries. Among others, there are The continence of Scipio, attributed to Luca Giordano (XVII), and the Columbus's landing in America, by José María Rodríguez de Losada. The works at the UB are just the tip of the iceberg. "More than 3,000 works went to churches and more than 2,000 to public bodies, but the Ministry of Culture has only investigated the holdings of Spain's national museums," laments Colorado.