Unicaja provides a key work for the scheme of the exhibition 'Orto y ocaso. Vidrio y loza en Gijón, siglos XVIII y XX', recently opened at the Revillagigedo Palace in Gijon and which can be visited until 8 September. It is a canvas signed by Evaristo Valle, the portrait of Mariano Suarez-Pola, a key figure in the Asturian glass and pottery industry for his contribution as one of the founders of the glass factory 'La Industria' and pottery 'La Asturiana'.
'Orto y Ocaso' brings together more than fifty pieces of glass and pottery selected from the collections of the Museo Casa Natal de Jovellanos and the Muséu del Prueblu d'Asturies, with the aim of highlighting the important Asturian production in the context of the decorative arts between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries.
Along with these unique pieces, there are also pictorial and photographic portraits of people linked to these industries. In this sense, Mariano Suárez-Pola is a key figure in the development of this Asturian business initiative and in promoting the transformation and development of the city of Gijón.
The portrait of Mariano Suárez-Pola is an oil on canvas signed by the Asturian painter Evaristo Valle. It is, therefore, a work of high artistic quality, in addition to the great symbolic and historical value it brings to the context of part of this exhibition.
The temporary loan of this canvas, which belongs to the bank's art collection, is part of Unicaja's support for culture and its artistic expression in general, and in Asturias in particular, as part of its commitment to this region, one of its main areas of origin and where it is a financial institution of reference.
About the exhibition
'Orto y Ocaso' can be visited, free of charge, from Tuesday to Sunday, until 8 September, at the Revillagigedo Palace in Gijon. It is organized by the City Council of Gijon and has the collaboration of the Cajastur Foundation, which has lent the space to host the exhibition.
The exhibition is divided into two main sections: glass and pottery. The first part has sections devoted to wheel-carved and acid-etched hollow glass, and pressed glass, in addition to the artistic opaline, painted glass and 'la fresca' or objects made by workers in their hours of rest. It also includes a space dedicated to 'La Bohemia Española', founded in 1929, which was the last glass factory that closed in Gijón and a selection of glass and pottery objects 'Souvenir of Gijón'.
The second part of the exhibition is also divided into several sections. The first of these is dedicated to the Villar or El Rayu pottery, a factory founded in the late eighteenth century at the request of Jovellanos in the municipality of Siero. There is also a selection of pieces from the factory 'La Asturiana' and works decorated by artists such as Prendes-Pando, Nicanor Piñole, Elías Díaz or Lolina Jaenicke. Another section is also dedicated to the production and commercial processes, and a sample of crockery and confectionery dishes to see the decorative motifs and their evolution in Gijón's pottery.
The exhibition was inaugurated on 22 March by the Mayor of Gijón, Carmen Moriyón, accompanied by the Councilor for Culture, Vanessa Gutiérrez, the Councilor for Culture, Youth and Museums, Montserrat López, as well as the curators of the exhibition, Lucía Peláez and Juaco López Álvarez. Unicaja was represented by the regional manager of Commercial Banking, Luis Manuel Taboada, and the regional manager for Eastern Asturias, Ana Fonseca.
