Juana Mordó (April 26, 1899 – March 12, 1984) was born in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(now

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

) and was an art dealer and gallery director in Madrid, Spain.

Early years

Juana Naar Scialom was born in

Salonica Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, then part of the Ottoman Empire and today in Greece, on April 26, 1899. Daughter of Elise Scialom and León Naar, of

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

descent, she moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

with her family. Mordó's first marriage was to Albert Yacoel, who worked in the textile trade in Paris. The marriage ended, and at the end of the 1920s, she married Enrique Mordó. She moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, with her second husband who ran an import and export business of oriental rugs. She lived in Berlin during the rise of

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

power. Mordó, a Spanish passport holder, decided to leave for Switzerland with her husband shortly before the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Arrival in Madrid

In 1942, Enrique Mordó died of heart failure in Switzerland. By 1943, Mordó decided to move to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

with her mother. Shortly after their arrival her mother, Elise Scialom passed away and Mordó decided to continue living in Madrid. A friend from Berlin who worked in intellectual media, put Mordó in touch with contacts. She obtained work on the French RNE broadcast, reading her articles and signed them with the pseudonym Carmen Soler. The first of these collaborations was an interview with

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

, Azorín. Other interviews and works on various topics would follow including travel, visits to Spanish cities, literary, social, and festive themes, all announced with her signature greeting, "Mes chers auditeurs".

The "salons" of Juana

Throughout the years, the image of Mordó has achieved great prestige in the cultural world of Madrid. In a desire to animate the intellectual environment of Madrid, Mordó summoned writers and artists on Saturdays to her home on Rodriguez de San Pedro Street. These meetings became known as the "salons" of Juana. Mordó's friends, José Luis López Aranguren, Dionisio Ridruejo, Pedro Laín Entralgo, Luis Felipe Vivanco, Antonio Tovar,

Rodrigo Uría González Rodrigo () is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' ( Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the last ...

Luis Rosales Luis Rosales Camacho (31 May 1910 – 24 October 1992) was a Spanish poet and essay writer member of the Generation of '36. He was born in Granada (Spain). He became a member of the Hispanic Society of America and the Royal Spanish Academy ...

, José Luis Sampedro, Pedro Mourlane Michelena, Antonio de Zubiaurre,

Gerardo Diego Gerardo Diego Cendoya (October 3, 1896 – July 8, 1987) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. Diego taught language and literature at institutes of learning in Soria, Gijón, Santander and Madrid. He also acted as lite ...

Antonio Saura Antonio Saura Atarés (September 22, 1930 – July 22, 1998) was a Spanish artist and writer, one of the major post-war painters to emerge in Spain in the fifties whose work has marked several generations of artists and whose critical voice is ...

Carlos Saura Carlos Saura Atarés (4 January 1932 – 10 February 2023) was a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. With Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be among Spain's great filmmakers. He had a long and prolific career th ...

were among the attendees.

Introduction into the art world

In the Autumn of 1953, the first International Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition was inaugurated in the Retiro Park, which promoted the General Direction of Fine Arts and the Society of Friends of the Landscape and the Gardens. Mordó joined the organizing committee as the Secretary that was chaired by Antonio Gallego Burín, the general director of Fine Arts, with vice-president Joan Ainaud de Lasarte, the director of the Museums of Barcelona, José Luis Fernández del Amo, the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition to Secretary of the organizing committee of the exhibition, Mordó, was the time coordinator. In this role, Mordó managed numerous details to facilitate the realization of the project which culminated in the assembly of the works. Through this project she built a wealth knowledge and experience about mounting an exhibition.

Director of the Biosca Gallery

In 1958, the gallery owner Aurelio Biosca was looking for someone to run his gallery and met Mordó. The gallery showcased artists of

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

and the generation of the great Spanish informalism in which Mordó curated some very influential exhibitions.

Juana Mordó Gallery

Encouragement from Mordó's artist friends and colleagues gave her the confidence to open her own gallery. Mordó formed the gallery with Ernesto Wuthenow, María Luisa Maristany and José Ayllón. The Juana Mordó gallery was located on Villanueva Street No. 7, and opened on March 14, 1964. It was inaugurated with a group exhibition of artists: Vicente Ameztoy,

Amalia Avia Amalia may refer to: People *Amalia (given name), feminine given name (includes a list of people so named) *Princess Amalia (disambiguation), several princesses with this name Films and television series *Amalia (1914 film), ''Amalia'' (191 ...

, Jaime Burguillos,

José Caballero José Caballero may refer to: * José Caballero (baseball), Panamanian professional baseball player * José Caballero (painter), Spanish painter * Jose Caballero (martial artist), Filipino martial arts practitioner * José Luis Caballero, Mexican f ...

, Rafael Canogar,

Eduardo Chillida Eduardo Chillida Juantegui (Basque: ''Eduardo Txillida Juantegi''; 10 January 1924 – 19 August 2002) was a Spanish Basque sculptor notable for his abstract works. Early life and career Born in San Sebastián (Donostia) to Pedro Chillida an ...

, Enrique Gran, José Guerrero, Carmen Laffón, Antonio Lopez Garcia, Julio Lopez Hernandez, Francisco Lozano, Manolo Millares, Manuel Hernández Mompó,

Lucio Muñoz Lucio Muñoz (27 December 1929 – 24 May 1998) was a Spanish abstract painter and engraver. Biography Muñoz was the son of Lucio Muñoz, a shopkeeper, and Nicolasa Martínez. Born on 27 December 1929 in Madrid, he was the youngest of tw ...

, Gaston Orellana, Alejandro Kingdom, Manuel Rivera, Juan de Ribera Berenguer, Luis Sáez,

, Eusebio Sempere,

Pablo Serrano Pablo Serrano Aguilar, (8 March 1908, Crivillén, Teruel – 26 November 1985, Madrid) was a Spanish abstract sculptor. Personal life 1920–1925. Pablo Serrano studied as a boarder in the Escuelas Profesionales Salesianas in Sarriá (Barc ...

, Antonio Suarez, Antoni Tapies, Gustavo Torner and Fernando Zobe. In December 1975, with Manuel Mendoza, Mordó opened a new gallery on Calle Castelló, number 7. In the late 1960s Mordó started a long-term collaboration and friendship with the gallery owner Margarete Lauter in Mannheim. Thanks to this cooperation, Lauter was able to give Spanish contemporary art a platform in Germany.

Death and legacy

On June 27, 1983, King Juan Carlos presented Mordó with the Gold Medal of the Fine Arts at the Prado Museum. A few months later she died in Madrid on March 12, 1984. Mordó was an influential gallery owner and defender of avant-garde art, promoting painters and sculptors of the time. From Mordó's collection, multiple works have come to public institutions. Mordó's legacy is part of the artistic heritage of the

Círculo de Bellas Artes The Círculo de Bellas Artes is a private, non-profit, cultural organization that was founded in 1880. Its building, located in Madrid, Spain, was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural'' in 1981. The CBA is a major multidisciplinary centre with one ...

of Madrid and it is composed mostly of works of unquestionable artistic value and many of the pieces are accompanied by affectionate dedications because they were gifts that artists created for a special event, such as the founding artist of Grupo El Paso, Manuel Rivera. Her archive was given to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. Additional acquisitions (legacy Mordó-Alvear) arrived at the San Fernando Academy including 57 pieces by authors such as Rafael Canogar, Gustavo Torner, Bonifacio Alfonso and an engraved plate by Dalí.

Bibliography

* GALLEGO, Joaquín, Juana Mordó * VV. AA., Juana Mordó for Art, Circle of BBAA, 1985. * VV. AA., Madrid Art of the 60, Community of Madrid-Ministry of Culture-General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Madrid, 1990. * VV.AA., Juana Mordó: her legacy, Madrid, 1997.
Abre el ojo (Open eye)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mordó, Juana 1899 births 1984 deaths Businesspeople from Thessaloniki Jews from Thessaloniki Greek art dealers Spanish art dealers People from Madrid