Castelao exhibition breaks attendance records at Museo de Pontevedra

The exhibition of Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao’s iconic painting, ‘A derradeira leición do mestre’, has concluded its three-month run at the Museo de Pontevedra. The display drew a record-breaking 26,376 visitors, making it the most attended temporary exhibition in the institution's history.

The painting, created in Buenos Aires in 1945, depicts a scene from the ‘Galicia mártir’ album. It serves as a symbol of memory regarding the Spanish Civil War, portraying the execution of Galician leader Alexandre Bóveda. The artwork was on loan from the Centro Galicia de Buenos Aires and is now returning to Argentina.

While the exhibition saw high engagement, including participation from over 1,100 students, it also faced political criticism. Some groups questioned the institutional handling of democratic memory in relation to the event. To ensure continued accessibility, the Museo de Pontevedra is preparing a digital version of the exhibition for its website.