Juana Francés de la Campa (Alicante, 1924 – Madrid, 1990) is one of the most powerful artists in the Spanish art scene of the second half of the twentieth century. There were very few women in the avant-garde front line, but she was always there, with her own personality, attentive to the artistic concerns of a generation of artists who revolutionized art, driven by a coercive political, social and cultural situation.
Juana's painting emanates a persistent murmur: a profound unease, an anguish that surfaces in all her works. Whether through subject matter, composition, gesture, material or color, Juana Francés' painting is wrapped in an unbreathable atmosphere. They are hard, complex, committed and suffocating works… but of great pictorial quality that stood out then in the most important biennials and international exhibitions of contemporary Spanish art. Juana enjoyed national and international recognition. Art history has forgotten her since. And it is necessary to recover her.
Juana Francés performed an act of generosity toward the city of Alicante in 1990. Upon her death, she donated her collection to the museums of four Spanish cities: Zaragoza, Madrid, Valencia and Alicante. Thus it was, and today, the Juana Francés Legacy belongs to the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Alicante for the enjoyment of all.
