This monographic exhibition organised by the Museo Picasso Málaga will present a chronological survey of the different periods in the artistic life of the painter María Blanchard (Santander, Spain, 1881-Paris, France, 1932). It will thus highlight the symbolic richness, social commitment, formal complexity and innovative nature of her work produced during her relatively short career. Blanchard’s activities were not sufficiently appreciated in her lifetime in a cultural context that espoused the inferiority of women’s artistic creation. A painter committed to her particular lifestyle and to creating to the very end, Blanchard transcended the limits of gender stereotypes.
As the first woman artist in Spain who systematically employed a Cubist approach in order to construct her images, María Blanchard contributed to the modern movement. The combination of geometrical elements and a skilful simultaneity of viewpoints give both her more abstract images from her early period and her post-Cubist figural compositions, which were produced from the period after 1920, a unique character. Blanchard’s range of subject matter - mother and child and domestic scenes, children and working women - reflect a deeply-felt female concern for the vulnerable nature of the human condition and the evocative power of emotions. She emphasised these aspects through her impeccable mastery of technique and her evident interest in the history and tradition of European painting. Curated by José Lebrero Stals, this retrospective includes approximately 90 works by the Spanish painter considered the “grande dame” of Cubism.
With this exhibition the Museo Picasso Málaga is reaffirming its commitment to highlighting the importance of 20th-century women artists, following its previous exhibitions Sophie Taeuber-Arp (2009); Hilma af Klint (2013); Louise Bourgeois (2015); We are completely free. Women artists and Surrealism (2017); and Paula Rego (2022). | 
