La mujer de la Estrella (Woman with the Star)

“Another important work from a historical point of view, is that of Alberto Sánchez, loaned by his family, entitled “La Mujer de la estrella” (The Woman with the Star), from 1956-58. As early as 1933, he simply presented a drawing at the exhibition of New Spanish Art at the Flechtheim Gallery in Berlin, organised by the Iberians and presented by the critic Manuel Abril. Alberto brought to sculpture the voice of the people, the popular expressions in the history of clay and ceramics and we believe that it is related, especially in the title, to the one presented in Paris, in 1937, in the Spanish pavilion of the International Exhibition. It represents a valuable historical milestone that must be taken into consideration in the evolution of art and in the populist union towards more intellectual and more contemporary contents of abstract evasion.”

Westerdahl, E. (1973). La 1ª Exposición Internacional de Escultura en la calle, en Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Quaderns d’arquitectura i urbanisme, ISSN 1133-8857, Nº. 99. Número dedicado a los parques naturales, 47-50.

“The contribution of the Castilian and Madrid artists who represent sculptural abstraction, in a language that differs from the poetic and popular language of Alberto Sánchez from Toledo, already mentioned among the great pioneers of the avant-garde, present in Santa Cruz with a version of The Woman with the Star following the invitation of the Architects’ Association, is very diverse.”

Hernández Perera, J. (1996). Dos décadas de Esculturas en la Calle. En A. Carnero, D. Duque, & C. Schwartz, Iª Exposición Internacional de Escultura en La Calle (págs. 25-54). Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Cabildo Insular de Tenerife. Área de Cultura. ISBN: 84-87340-63-6

“A claiming spirit, both plastic and political, was underlying in Alberto Sánchez’s The Woman with the Star (1956), strongly comparable to the immense piece (12 metres) that he executed for the Spanish pavilion at the International Exhibition in Paris (1937) within a surrealism with popular roots that he always claimed before and after the Civil War.”

Pérez Reyes, C. (1996). Reflexión sobre lo visto y lo vivido. En A. Carnero, D. Duque, & C. Schwartz, Iª Exposición Internacional de Escultura en La Calle (págs. 65-76). Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Cabildo Insular de Tenerife. Área de Cultura. ISBN: 84-87340-63-6

“The exhibition also included a piece by another of the great artists of the Spanish avant-garde: The Woman with the Star, by Alberto Sánchez, a figure enclosed in its most synthesised silhouette, donated by one of his nephews to the Architects’ Association as compensation for their commitment to organise an anthological exhibition of the Spanish sculptor – a project that was in fact carried out in October 1975. It is marvellous to see how this intuitive popular man reached a level of synthesis similar to that of Brancusi, Arp or Moore without knowing them, without leaving Madrid, from Vallecas.”

Fernández Lomana, M.A. (1996). De la conmemoración al homenaje. En A. Carnero, D. Duque, & C. Schwartz, Iª Exposición Internacional de Escultura en La Calle (págs. 87-108). Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Cabildo Insular de Tenerife. Área de Cultura. ISBN: 84-87340-63-6