The Vila Casas Foundation has launched a major retrospective of Esther Boix at the Espais Volart gallery in Barcelona, marking the centenary of the artist’s birth. Featuring 180 works, the exhibition traces Boix’s evolution from early figurative portraits and social realism to her later, more abstract explorations of nature and ecology. The show highlights her role in the anti-Franco movement, her involvement with the Postectura group, and her significant contributions to art education through the founding of the L’ARC school.
This exhibition is a significant step in the ongoing effort to reclaim the legacies of female artists who were historically marginalized in Spain. By connecting Boix’s personal struggles with polio to her political activism and eventual shift toward environmental themes, the retrospective positions her as a pivotal figure in contemporary Catalan art. It serves as both a historical record of 20th-century social change and a reflection on how women navigated and reshaped the male-dominated Spanish art scene.