The consolidation of avant-garde art in Granada after the Civil War: the debate between tradition and modernity

Abstract

The cultural scene in post-war Granada was characterized by difficulties, apathy and the excessively traditional approach to art taken by the Franco regime in its early years – given the restrictions placed on freedom and the imposition of supposedly official artistic models. Nevertheless, cultural activity in the town was renewed in the decade of the fifties, thanks to a minority of artists and intellectuals who took a more cosmopolitan view and attempted to change the contemporary scene by moving in the direction of international avant-garde art. This updating was reflected in the local press in a polemical debate which developed on the subject of the aesthetics of abstract art.