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Get to know the poet — Juan Ramón Jiménez exhibit

When you enter the Library you will see two posters: a large hanging photograph of Juan Ramón Jiménez with “Aquel chopo de luz,” and, on an easel, a smaller poster which says “Get to know the poet” and “JUAN RAMÓN JIMÉNEZ, FOURTH FLOOR, FALVEY LIBRARY NOW THRU 3/31.”

To learn just who he is, you should go up to the fourth floor where a group of colorful paper lanterns direct you to the lounge area at the back of the building.

Here you will find a remarkable series of thirty-four large posters which trace the life of the Spanish poet who received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1956. The first poster, the same as the one posted at the Falvey entrance, shows one of the numerous photographs included in this comprehensive documentation of his life and works. The inscription, “Aquel chopo de luz (That poplar tree of light),” is taken from Espacio (Space), one of Jiménez’s poems.

Next are an additional thirty-one posters which document his life in text, photographs, excerpts from his literary works, and other records such as his birth certificate and his passport. Beginning at the lounge, the series runs across the back wall and continues along the side, ending with a two panel bibliography of the works of Juan Ramón Jiménez.

Poster 1, “El nido limpio y calido … (The clean and warm nest),” displays photographs of his parents, Jiménez as a child in 1886, a view of Moguer where he was born, and the poem, “Moguer.” Other posters tell of his school years; his “Amores de adolescencia (Loves of adolescence); his “Años de iniciación (Years of initiation)” in Seville; his time in modernist Madrid; his stay in a sanitarium (for depression caused by the death of his father); a visit to Moguer; his return to Madrid where he met Zenobia in the Residencia de Estudiantes; and his years of “frenetic activity.”

Additional posters tell how he was exiled by the Spanish Civil War, first moving to Coral Gables, Florida, Washington, Maryland, and then to Argentina, Uruguay, and Puerto Rico. Photographs show the poet and his wife aging. There are reproductions of his drawings, paintings, book covers, excerpts from his writings, and more. Although all text is in Spanish, the images tell the story.

The exhibit was created by the Junta de Andalucía and Triennium Juan Ramón Jiménez and has traveled throughout the world for several years. This exhibit complements the symposium, “Juan Ramón Jiménez en La Nueva Luz,” which will be held on March 31 in the first floor lounge of Falvey Memorial Library. The symposium is sponsored by the modern languages and literature department, and initiated by Dr. Mercedes Juliá. Falvey staff members who worked on the exhibition are Joanne Quinn, Susan Ottignon, Anne Ford and Darren Poley.


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Last Modified: March 23, 2009

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