The eternal friendship. "Alberti, Bonet, Mandello. Stories about La Gallarda" by Lorente Mourelle + Cagnasso

A famous photograph, of significant artistic and historical value, is the inspiration behind "Alberti, Bonet, Mandello. Poet and painter, architect, photographer. Stories about La Gallarda," created by Rafael Lorente Mourelle with Alicia Cagnasso. The image in question was taken by the French-German photographer Jeanne Mandello and captures the Cadiz-born poet and painter Rafael Alberti (1902-1999) in his house, La Gallarda, in Cantegril (Punta del Este, Uruguay), next to his work entitled "Panel of Friendship."

The book, published a few years ago, is especially relevant due to the necessary permanence of the exceptional story of its protagonists and the circumstances that led to their meeting. Migrations become cyclical, a consequence of dramatic contexts that, in one way or another, seem to want to repeat themselves, something whose memory should make us take a stand against intolerance.

The book features an exceptional cast of contributors who have contributed their writings to create an extraordinarily kaleidoscopic, current, and interesting vision of the story of an exceptional friendship, whose meeting was especially fruitful.

Rafael Aberti next to the Friendship Panel (Photo Jeanne Mandello, 1947. Mandello Foundation.)

The house, located on Abraham Lincoln Avenue at stop 15 of Mansa Beach, was designed around 1945 by the iconic Spanish architect Antonio Bonet Castellana (1913-1989) during those years in exile after the Spanish Civil War. The photograph, taken in 1947, shows Alberti standing in front of his mural painted on the façade of La Gallarda.

The "Friendship Panel" measures 1.90 x 1.50 meters and is made up of 10 panels measuring 0.25 x 0.56 meters, arranged in two vertical rows of five panels each. The mural is an explicit tribute to friendship: "To my friends, to those far away, across the sea, and to those who accompany me in these lands."

Alberti, Antonio Bonet, and Jeanne Mandello are the three main characters in the story by Rafael Lorente Mourelle and Alicia Cagnasso. Along with other related figures, they were examples of exiles forced to leave their lands due to dramatic causes such as the fall of the Second Spanish Republic, the rise of the Franco dictatorship, and the ignominious persecution and death of millions of Jews during the Third Reich.

Uruguay was known as a place of refuge and welcome. In that sense, this book is a tribute to those who found peace and the means to move forward with their lives and their stories in these lands.

Rafael Alberti, Osborne Tres Ceros Cognac Poster. Gouache on paper, 44 x 39 cm, 1920-1922. (Gregorio Prieto Foundation, Valdepeñas.) / Rafael Barradas, Watercolor. Watercolor on paper, 24 x 17 cm, 1917. (MNAV, Montevideo.)

For a long period of time, the mural was presumed lost, as it is no longer part of the façade of La Gallarda. In fact, Alberti's famous work was moved inside the house for its preservation. The discovery of the real panel and the exploration of its materiality, along with the painting that decorates it, served as the starting point for this project, which aims to rescue it after a silence of more than fifty years.

The publication is organized by initially presenting a concise profile of the three protagonists and their relationships, and then, in 10 chapters, develops the characters that make up each of the divisions of the "Friendship Panel."

Drawings by Antonio Bonet. Construction notes, 1933. (Lucía Lombardi Archive.)

Index
Introduction
Prologue by Juan Manuel Bonet
Preface I. The Civil War
Preface II. The Republican Exile
Rafael Alberti
Rafael Alberti - Painter
Rafael Alberti - Poet
Antonio Bonet
Jeanne Mandello
The panels:

1. Antonio Bonet and Ana María (Martí)
2. Gonzalo Losada
3. Giselda Zani
4. Alberto Ugalde and Odette (Desvignes)
5. Theo and Mariusa
(Theo Verbrugghe and Mariusa Fernández Beyro)
6. Bautista Saint-Jean
7. Norah Lange and Oliverio Girondo
8. Pablo Picasso
9. Mauricio Litman
10. Alejandro Casona and Rosalía (Martín)

Gran Cine Plaza (architect Rafael Lorente Escudero), photos by Jeanne Mandello, early 1950s. (Rafael Lorente Mourelle Archive/Mandello Foundation)

The book project was submitted to the Competitive Funds for Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay, in the Editorial Projects section, and was selected for publication and support.

The Friendship Panel in 2019. (Photo: Álvaro Zinno.)

García Lorca, by Rafael Barradas. Watercolor and pencil on paper, 33 x 23 cm, ca. 1921. (National Museum of Visual Arts, Montevideo.)

Margarita Xirgu. Pencil on paper, 28 x 22 cm, 1927. (MNAV, Montevideo.)

Inside page of the book. Alberti, Bonet, Mandello. Poet and painter, architect, photographer. Stories about La Gallarda by Rafael Lorente Mourelle and Alicia Cagnasso.

Rafael Alberti, Music Box, oil on wood. 19 x 14.50 cm × 14.50 cm, 1953. (Tata Álvarez Collection, Madrid.)

Study house for artists in Paraguay and Suipacha. 1938. Buenos Aires. Archs. Antonio Bonet, Vera Barros and López Chas. (Photo: Rafael Lorente Mourelle.)

Portrait of Joaquín Torres-García, Montevideo. Jeanne Mandello, 1944. (Mandello Foundation.)

Ana María Martí and Antonio Bonet at the Montevideo Golf Club, circa 1945.

Current facade of La Gallarda from Lincoln Avenue. (Photos by Álvaro Zinno.)

Gallery and side facade of La Gallarda. (Photos by Álvaro Zinno.)

Gonzalo Losada (still from The Ghosts of Losada, a film by Gonzalo Murúa Losada, 2015.)

Ballads and Songs of the Paraná, by Rafael Alberti, Buenos Aires: Losada, collection: Poets of Spain and America, 1954. First independent edition (second overall). Cover drawing by the author / Scenic Poems (First Series), by Rafael Alberti, Buenos Aires: Losada, collection: Poetry of Yesterday and Today, 1962. Cover drawing by the author / Songs of the Upper Aniene Valley, by Rafael Alberti, Buenos Aires: Losada, collection: Classical and Contemporary Library, 1972. Cover drawing by the author. Tribute by

Giselda Zani in 1923 (At http://anaforas.fic.edu.uy)

Giselda Zani. Studio portrait, 1932. (At http://anaforas.fic.edu.uy) / Through subtle links, Buenos Aires: Emecé, 1957.

Odette Desvignes (circa 1945) and Alberto Ugalde (circa 1967). (Annette Ugalde Archive.)

Meeting of friends at La Gallarda. From left to right: Alberti, Jesualdo Sosa, María Carmen Portela, Toño Salazar, and Alberto Ugalde. (Aitana Alberti Archive.)

Mariusa (right) sailing on the Paraná River. (Roseline Verbrugghe Archive.) / Mariusa in Punta del Este with her nephew Máximo Nazar, who would later become Annette Ugalde's husband. (Roseline Verbrugghe Archive.) / Brava Beach in Punta del Este, by Jeanne Mandello, 1950. (Mandello Foundation.

The entire Losada publishing house in the 1940s: the board of directors, collection directors, and authors (including Alberti, María Teresa, Norah Lange, Oliverio Girondo, and Jorge Luis Borges).

Cover design by Rafael Alberti for Cantos de sur y norte, by Manuel F. Rugeles, Buenos Aires: Losada, collection: Poets of Spain and America, 1954 / Cover design by Rafael Alberti for Casas muertas, by Miguel Otero Silva, Buenos Aires: Losada, 1955 / Cover design by Rafael Alberti for Otra vez, by Carlos Gottberg, Buenos Aires: Losada, collection: Poets of Spain and America, 1955 / Cover design by Rafael Alberti for El barrio, by Vasco Pratolini, Buenos Aires: Losada, 1956.

The Street of the Afternoon (Prologue by Jorge L. Borges), by Norah Lange, Buenos Aires: J. Saimet, 1925. (Poetry.) The cover is by Norah Borges / 45 Days and 30 Sailors, by Norah Lange, Buenos Aires: Tor, 1933. (Novel.) / People in the Room, by Norah Lange, Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 1950. (Novel.) / The Two Portraits, by Norah Lange, Buenos Aires: Losada, 1956. (Novel.)

Inside page of the book. Alberti, Bonet, Mandello. Poet and painter, architect, photographer. Stories about La Gallarda.

"Guitar and Dove," by Rafael Alberti (Buenos Aires, ca. 1960). Tempera lyric print (63 x 48 cm), with fragments of: "Song 5" and "Ballad of What Time Said" (from Ballads and Songs of the Paraná), and "Picasso" (from To Painting, which begins: "Málaga / Blue, white and indigo / postcard and sailor"; the second and third verses appear at the end of the text).

Wonderland, the Litman family residence in Cantegril, by architect Carlos García Arocena. 1945 / Floresta, by Cândido Portinari (oil on canvas; 125 × 252 cm), from 1948, which shone in Litman's Punta del Este home. (Image: Projeto Portinari, www.portinari.org.br)

Rosalía Martín Bravo and Alejandro Casona. Studio photography.

Illustrations by Joaquín Torres García for "Querencia," a poem by Casona from The Toad's Flute (Lérida: Aran Valley: School Press, 1930). Torres García, during his stay in Madrid in 1931, was a neighbor and good friend of the writer. (Images: The Drawing of the 27th, Madrid: Guillermo de Osma Gallery, 2017.)

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More information

Label

Title

Text

Alberti, Bonet, Mandello. Poet and painter, architect, photographer. Stories about La Gallarda.

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Authors

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Architect Rafael Lorente Mourelle, Prof. Alicia Cagnasso.

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Conception and coordination

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Rafael Lorente Mourelle.

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Texts

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Alicia Cagnasso, Rafael Lorente Mourelle, Juan Manuel Bonet, Sandra Nagel, (Other authors are indicated in each case).

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Project team

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Graphic Designer - Rodolfo Fuentes.
Copyediting - Maqui Dutto.

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Printing

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Gráfica Mosca.

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With the support of

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Aitana Alberti Leon (daughter of Rafael Alberti and Maria Teresa Leon), Victoria Bonet Marti (daughter of Antonio de Bonet Castellana and Ana Maria Marti), Sandra Nagel, Juan Manuel Bonet, Annette Ugalde Desvignes, Cristina Arredondo, Jorge Nudelman, Jorge Mara Abejón, Ricardo Ramon, Cultural Center of
Spain, Mecha Gattas, Flia. Girondo-Lange, Xavier Rius Xirgu, Luis Rodriguez Sanchez, Lucia Morelle, Lucia Lombardi, Adriana Lalanne, Elizabeth Mandello, James Bauer, Flia. Lodged, Flia. Martinez Boedo, Darius Maple, Rodolfo Lopez King, Jose Luis Suarez Canal, Santiago Vitureira, Henry Aguerre, Diana Reches.

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Developer

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Project selected by the Competitive Fund for Culture - MEC - 2018.

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Dates

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2019.

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ISBN

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978-9974-94-664-4.

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Legal Deposit

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376.695.

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Location

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Montevideo, Uruguay.

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Photography

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Álvaro Zinno, Rodolfo Fuentes, Ramiro Rodríguez Barilari. (Other authors are indicated in each image.)

Rafael Lorente

Rafael Lorente, born in Montevideo on March 21, 1940, has developed a career that combines architecture with the visual arts, demonstrating brilliance in both fields. He began his teaching activity at the Taller Bayardo and graduated as an architect in 1966 from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of the Republic, Montevideo. That same year, he won first prize in the competition for the headquarters of the Association of Bank Employees of Uruguay, in collaboration with Rafael Lorente Escudero and Juan José Lussich. Between 1971 and 1975, he served as Head of Projects and Coordinator of the Housing Sector at the Centro Cooperativista Uruguayo, and in 1982, he participated in projects at the Automobile Department of the State Insurance Bank with Conrado Pintos. Later, in 1997, he collaborated on the Liceo Francés Jules Supervielle project alongside Jorge Gibert and Fernando Giordano.

In parallel, Lorente developed his artistic vocation as a student at the Taller Torres García, under the guidance of José Gurvich and Guillermo Fernández. His artistic work includes, among others, the Monument to Justice, located in front of the Supreme Court of Justice in Montevideo. In recognition of his career, he received the Morosoli Silver Award in 2001, and in 2015, the National Museum of Visual Arts in Montevideo held a retrospective exhibition showcasing the most significant achievements of his artistic career.

As an architect, Lorente has left a significant mark on the city of Montevideo and beyond. His projects include the rehabilitation of the Centro Cultural de España (2000–2003), the Embassy and Cultural Center of Mexico (2007), and the Museo Gurvich (2015), as well as the construction of the new building for the Liceo Francés, located opposite the Buceo port. His work on the tensegrity structure in the central Plaza Fabini is also notable, demonstrating his ability to integrate functionality and formal expression.

His work has been widely recognized: Morosoli Silver Award (2001), National Architecture Award (2002), UNESCO Special Mention for Educational Architecture (2004), and First Prize for Heritage Intervention at the Quito Architecture Biennale (2006). Lorente embodies a career in which architecture and art constantly dialogue, offering significant contributions to the culture and urban landscape of Uruguay.

Alicia Cagnasso Folgueira

Alicia Cagnasso Folgueira is a professor of literature, a graduate of the Artigas Institute for Teachers, and an English professor.

She is currently preparing her final thesis for the Master's program in Latin American Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences (UdelaR).

Co-authored with Rogelio Martínez, she has published Chronicle of the Exile of Mercedes Pinto in Uruguay (Montevideo, Ed. Bergamín, 2007) and Rafael Alberti, María Teresa León, and Aitana Alberti in Uruguay (Buenos Aires, Losada, 2014). She has authored articles on authors of the Spanish Republican exile in collective works from the universities of Birmingham, Paris-Nanterre, and Lille.

Published on: September 7, 2025

Cite:

metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA, AGUSTINA BERTA

"The eternal friendship. "Alberti, Bonet, Mandello. Stories about La Gallarda" by Lorente Mourelle + Cagnasso" METALOCUS. Accessed

<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/eternal-friendship-alberti-bonet-mandello-stories-about-la-gallarda-lorente-mourelle-cagnasso> ISSN 1139-6415