Manaut Viglietti Retrospective Opens at Museo Ibáñez in Olula del Río

A retrospective dedicated to José Manaut Viglietti is on view at the Museo Ibáñez in Olula del Río, Almería, from September 12 to November 29, 2026. Curated by Javier Pérez Rojas and David Gutiérrez Pulido, the exhibition features nearly forty works, mostly canvases, along with drawings, engravings, and a fan, some shown for the first time. Born in Lliria, Valencia, in 1898, Manaut trained at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Carlos and the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. In the 1920s he was a resident at the Monasterio del Paular in Rascafría and later traveled to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands on a scholarship, residing in France until 1927. He was influenced by Joaquín Sorolla, his professor at San Fernando, and was a disciple of Cecilio Pla. After returning to Spain, he combined art with teaching drawing, art history theory, and political activism until his death in 1971. A communist and Freemason, he was dismissed and imprisoned during the Civil War, later exiling in Durango before returning to Madrid, where he taught at the Liceo Francés and worked as a critic and art historian. The exhibition includes works from all periods: academic drawings, impressionist canvases, Parisian portraits, and post-war landscapes, including stormy compositions related to the conflict and exile.