This year marks the 75th anniversary of the death of Mariano Benlliure, a Valencian sculptor with an extensive work that is markedly realistic, versatile and creative. Undoubtedly, a reference within contemporary Spanish sculpture.
A sculptor whose civil and religious work has been and is important for this country, and it is also important for Crevillent, which has nine great works, eight of which are paraded during our Holy Week, declared of International Tourist Interest. Works that are also hallmarks of our town and its big week.
As if that were not enough, Crevillent has the only monographic museum dedicated to his figure with more than 332 works, including his sketches, plaster models and a gallery of photographs, as well as a wide variety of thematic imagery, public monuments, medals and funerary art pieces. Also his personal archive, which turns out to be a first step to learn about the entire process that generates sculpture and is an essential tool for anyone who wants to know the work of this great master in all its dimensions.
It is a success on the part of the different teams that have formed the Federation of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods of Holy Week in Crevillent to give the deserved relevance to this artist, through his different anniversaries, because it would also be difficult to understand our Holy Week without the Benlliure and without the works of other sculptors of the stature of Riudavets or García Talens, who are among the fourteen artists who complement the entire representative story in our processions.
The commitment of the current president of the Federation and his team and their involvement in making 2022 the Benlliure year, with extensive cultural activity, deserves the City Council’s gratitude and support. Personally, I am not surprised by the work they are doing to bring the name of Crevillent to the great meeting points of culture throughout the country.
And why is it a success? The symbiosis between Holy Week and Benlliure’s work enriches both elements. Holy Week gives him the element of arranging the imagery of an artist of great stature and level, recognized throughout the country, a great master. And the work of Benlliure and his figure allows him to live after his death, growing in the deepest roots of a town that is his memory.
The City Council enjoys an unequivocal consensus on the importance of the Valencian sculptor and therefore supports each of the activities that are being organized around this celebration.
Although the municipal commitment is unquestionable, that of its people must be as well, which is why these words are also intended to make a call to the people of Crevillent to participate individually or through entities, as well as to the companies themselves to to support and get involved in these initiatives that the Organizing Committee is developing.
And finally, I am addressing visitors, those artists, or those who aspire to be, to come and see our Mariano Benlliure Municipal Museum and the Holy Week Museum. They will surprise you for several reasons: for the sensitivity and care of all the works on display, for the richness and beauty of each of the images sculpted by the different authors and, especially, for the expressive realism of Benlliure’s work.
With these views you can perfectly understand how a town has been able to bring together popular fervor, the beauty of sculptures, history and tradition and show through Benlliure The Infinite Forms in the Soul of the human being.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.