Centro Artístico

The Artistic, Literary and Scientific Center of Granada (Centro Artístico de Granada), a centennial cultural institution, was founded in April 1885 and plays a very important role in the cultural life of the city, especially in the first two decades of the last century. In its formation, the intellectual elite linked to Freemasonry was of great help. Its first board of directors was presided over by Vicente Arteaga and Manuel Gómez-Moreno was the vice-president. The founding headquarters was at Plaza Nueva, 20. In its long history, the institution experienced numerous vicissitudes and changes of address.

Although it has tended to represent the most conservative spirit in the face of the drive of the new generations of creators, it also welcomed the new values to address the even more traditionalist character of the Granada High School. Its first stage of glory was between 1889 and 1890, and ended around 1898 when the board proceeded to its temporary closure.

Lorca joined the institution as an aspiring musician. A year later, in 1918, Federico read in its premises some of the chapters of ‘Impressions and Landscapes’, his first book. However, his relationship with the Center was strained until the definitive rupture to found the Athenaeum in 1925.

Its second period of glory began in 1908 with the re-founding of the entity by a group of members led by Francisco de Paula Valladar who was seconded by others such as Ángel Barrios, Constantino Ruiz Carnero and Eugenio Gómez Mir. The discrepancies however were immediate. Ruiz Carnero and his group of republican liberals marked the distances that same year. The struggle between the most conservative sector and the young talents was characteristic throughout the first quarter of the century.

Federico and Francisco García Lorca appear linked to the Centro Artístico from 1915 when the headquarters, after several changes, was installed in Reyes Católicos street, where the monument to Isabel la Católica stands today. Despite the continuous divergences, the sculptor Juan Cristóbal made his debut at the Center (in 1913, at the age of 15); as did Manuel Ángeles Ortiz, who exhibited in 1913 and 1915, Ramón Carazo and Ismael González de la Serna.

According to the record book of the Centro Artístico, Federico García Lorca joined as a member on February 11, 1915 at the age of 17, and remained an active member until January 1, 1924. The relationship between Lorca and the Center was strained until the definitive rupture to found the Athenaeum in 1925.

Lorca disembarked at the institution as an aspiring musician. Those were the times when he punctually attended the classes of Antonio Segura Mesa in the street Escudo del Carmen.

According to some accounts, Fernando de los Ríos, president of the Center, met Lorca while playing a Beethoven sonata on the institution’s piano. But he soon turned to literature. In fact, his first creative text, entitled Fantasía Simbólica, appeared in the bulletin that the center published in 1917 dedicated to José Zorrilla.

A year later, in 1918, Federico read in its premises some of the chapters of Impressions and Landscapes, his first book. “It was a local center of culture that sheltered all the creative movement of Granada. Nothing absolutely eminent, but certainly not negligible,” describes Francisco García Lorca.

The Centro Artístico was also the organizer of the Flamenco Song Contest of 1922, although not without controversy, and organized numerous concerts in the Carlos V palace, which eventually came together in the Festival of Music and Dance. The caricature drawn by Antonio López Sancho on the occasion of the song contest, which shows 31 characters linked to it, is kept at the Center.

The definitive break with the young creators took place in 1925 when the Ateneo de Granada opened its doors sponsored by Manuel de Falla, García Lorca, De los Ríos, Ruiz Carnero and Hermenegildo Lanz, among others.