The National Library of Spain presents the exhibition Cuánto sé de mí – José Hierro in La Sala Hipóstila, on the occasion of the celebration of the centenary of the poet’s birth.
The exhibition is made up of around one hundred works, bibliographic, material and documentary collections.
The exhibition has taken place thanks to the collaboration between the José Hierro Poetry Centre Foundation, The Community of Madrid, The Government of Cantabria and Getafe City Council.
Trajectory:
Hierro was a writer and poet of the first post-war literary generation, beginning his career in 1947 with Tierra sin nosotros, from which time he was recognised as one of the most outstanding poetic figures of the time.
He collaborated with a variety of poetry magazines and took part in the Segovia and Salamanca Poetry Congresses.
He was characterised by his diverse creative facets throughout his career, standing out for his anti-realist and evocative style and his deepening of intimacy.
Some of his major works were: Cuanto sé de mí, Libro de las alucinaciones and Cuaderno de Nueva York, all three of which won the Critics’ Prize.
Awards:
José Hierro’s voice has been one of the most significant in Spanish poetry, so much so that throughout his extensive literary career he won several awards:
- The Prince of Asturias Award for Letters (1981)
- The National Prize for Spanish Letters (1990)
- The Queen Sofia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry (1995)
- Cervantes Prize (1998)
His significant books of poems are defined by their documentary character and by his will to bear witness with aesthetic ideas.
“This is the basis of an integrating perspective that assumes the rational and the symbolic, the “reportage” and the “hallucination” (the “hallucinated reportage”), the lived and the dreamed, the intellectual and the emotional, the historical and the biographical, the intimate and the social, writing and reflection on its process, etc., and which goes beyond the limits of a purely rationalist vision of reality”.
Poet and artist:
José Hierro was not only a poet, but also a disseminator of poetry and the work of other great authors through articles and lectures.
Perhaps a lesser known facet than his poetic writings was his graphic work; he was a constant and persistent drawer, especially in the collection of self-portraits he made over the years.
The multifaceted José Hierro died in Madrid in 2002 at the age of 80.
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Conclusion:
Due to his entire career, the National Library of Spain carried out this tribute by making a biographical journey through the different spatial and chronological spheres in which the development of his work is shown.
At SIT Spain we are honoured to have been able to participate in the mounting of this exhibition that will allow, on a unique occasion, to admire his work, his thoughts and his graphic works that will remain as an inspiration for future generations of readers.
