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'The Orient in 19th century collections' is the title of the new exhibition at the Gravina Fine Arts Museum until next year. 31 December and in which the MARQ is collaborating with the loan of several objects of oriental origin from its collection. This exhibition, made up of 80 piecesis a re-edition of the one that was inaugurated in 2006 on Chinese paintings with a collection donated by Rafael Beltrán de la Llave, a member of one of the most prominent families of the Alicante bourgeoisie of the 19th century and whose progenitor, Beltrán Ausógives its name to the collection.
The exhibition is made up of 37 paintings made with gouache on rice paper, and others two large-format on laid paper, three fansas well as 27 pieces donated by the Museo Arqueológico de Alicante, from the Quiles Antón Collection, the Beltrán Ausó Collection and the Historical Collection. Fountains, plates, vases, game boxes, fans, bowls and tiles make up this donation, which is completed with other items from the Quiles Antón Collection, the Beltrán Ausó Collection and the Historical Collection. eleven objects from a private collection.
All of this compilation of pieces, produced in the East for trade with the West, is accompanied by posters and educational texts that explain the arrival of this oriental fashion, which was especially profuse among the Alicante bourgeoisie of the 19th century, collecting, objects, their technique and usesin addition to photographic reproductions which illustrate these aspects. In the same vein, the catalogue has been reissued which was made on the occasion of the first edition of the exhibition.
'The Orient in 19th century collectionsThe 'Gabinete de grabados, dibujos y acuarelas' room at the MUBAG is now equipped with new lighting suitable for exhibiting this work, which has a more sensitive medium.
Most of the Chinese paintings in the Beltrán Ausó collection correspond to the export-oriented themesThese included court figures, everyday life, rituals, commerce and flora. Each theme was collected in series of twelve to twenty plates framed with wood or silk in an album, batches of which were then sold. The type of paper used is very thin, almost translucent and fragile, made from rice straw and hemp.
