Throughout the 1920s, a remarkable number of young writers and artists
lived and worked in Madrid, creating an atmosphere of effervescence and
an upsurge in creativity that has rarely been equalled. These young
people, acquainting themselves with one another within the span of only
a few years, came together to form a tightly woven network of both
personal and artistic relationships.In Configurations of a Cultural
Scene Andrew Anderson explores this growing community of artists and
writers with a focus on how sites of face-to-face interaction in Madrid
fostered creative work and forged young identities. Organizing locations
into places of sociability, learning, and residence, Anderson offers
five case studies that exemplify the significance of these three points
of intersection: Rafael Barradas and his tertulia at the Café de
Oriente; an artists' studio located on the Pasaje de la Alhambra; women
art students at the Academia de San Fernando who lodged at the
Residencia de Señoritas; the artist and writer Gabriel García Maroto;
and the close relationship between artist Maruja Mallo and poet Rafael
Alberti. Departing from conventional approaches that foreground the
trajectories of individual careers, Anderson privileges the lived
experience of artists and writers in his analysis of a rich cultural
scene held together by cooperation, exchange, and interpersonal
connections.