We show the designs of the murals painted by Delhy Tejero, intended to be placed on the walls of the assembly hall in the form of large mosaics to be executed by Santiago Padrós.

These designs, unseen by the public until 2023, had been missing for 65 years

In the end, the large glazed mosaic murals were never executed

THIS FIRST PART IS DEVOTED TO THE MURALS PAINTED BY DELHY TEJERO ON PAPER SHE HAD AVAILABLE IN 1956 (WE BELIEVE IT IS THE BROWN PAPER KNOWN AS ESTRAZA OR KRAFT PAPER). THE DESIGNS WERE TO BE TRANSLATED INTO MOSAIC BY THE CATALAN ARTIST SANTIAGO PADRÓS, WHO MADE THOSE ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE CHURCH AND IN THE LANTERN.

WHEN THE SEARCH BEGAN, IT STARTED FROM AN INVENTORY DRAWN UP BY THE DOCUMENTALIST CARMEN CARRILES IN 2004/05, WHICH, ON PAGE 17, INDICATED THE EXISTENCE OF SOME ROLLS OF PAPER WITH STRANGE DRAWINGS THAT IT WOULD BE ADVISABLE FOR EXPERTS TO ANALYSE. FROM THAT MOMENT ON, CONTACT WAS MADE WITH THE HEIRS IN MADRID, WHO DID NOT KNOW THE WHEREABOUTS OF THESE DRAWINGS AND WHO SENT ME THE MATERIAL THEY HAD IN THEIR POSSESSION.

LATER, DURING HOURS OF RESEARCH IN THE ARCHIVO HISTÓRICO DE ASTURIAS, WE MANAGED TO FIND THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE PAINTER AND THE RECTOR VALENTÍN GARCÍA, THROUGH WHICH WE LEARNED THAT THE DESIGNS REACHED THE UNIVERSIDAD LABORAL IN 1959. FROM THAT MOMENT ON THE MURALS DISAPPEARED, AND WE FINALLY LOCATED THEM IN MARCH 2023.

SUBSEQUENTLY, IN MAY 2023, WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE DIRECCIÓN DE PATRIMONIO DEL GOBIERNO DE ASTURIAS, AND AFTER 65 YEARS, WE WERE ABLE TO MOUNT THEM AND SEE THEIR CONTENT, WHICH WE SHOW BELOW.

In 1954, when Delhy Tejero began to sketch and paint the murals shown below, the artist was going through a difficult period in her life; at that time her painting was strongly influenced by the Russian painter Kandinsky, considered the father of abstract art.

In drawings with markedly geometric forms, with synthesised, somewhat abstracted figures, which alternate within a play of intersecting diagonals and move from figuration towards abstraction and constructivism.

SKETCHES OF THE MURALS OF THE SCIENCES AND OF THE ARTS, ORIGINALLY PROVIDED BY THE HEIRS OF THE PAINTER DELHY TEJERO TO RAFAEL MORÁN, AND ON THE BASIS OF WHICH THE SEARCH FOR THE MURALS BEGAN, UNTIL THEIR REDISCOVERY ON 23.03.2023

THE TWO MURALS AFTER MOUNTING, WITH AN APPROXIMATE SURFACE AREA OF 25 SQUARE METRES EACH

Mural of the Sciences, representing the natural, exact, physico-chemical, philosophical and cosmological sciences

Mural of the Arts: architecture, sculpture, painting, music and poetry

65 years after the painter Delhy Tejero sent the designs to Father Valentín García, in May 2023 we began the phase of mounting the two sketches.

First, the mural of the Sciences, and above, the mural of the Arts, during assembly

DETAILS OF THE MURALS, WITH THE PRELIMINARY SKETCHES PRIOR TO THE DEFINITIVE VERSION IN THE CORRESPONDING MURAL

Original drawing of the armillary sphere included in Delhy Tejero's mural of the Sciences

Preliminary design of the armillary sphere, prior to THE DEFINITIVE DRAWING of the mural of the Sciences.

Design of the armillary sphere on one of the panels painted in oils, NOW IN THE POSSESSION OF Delhy Tejero's heirs

DETAIL OF THE MURAL OF THE ARTS, WITH THE PRELIMINARY SKETCHES PRIOR TO THE DEFINITIVE DRAWING

DETAIL OF AN OIL PAINTING BELONGING TO HER NIECE DOLORES, WITH A FIRST OUTLINE OF THE DRAWING

PRELIMINARY SKETCH PRIOR TO THE ORIGINAL DRAWING

ALMOST DEFINITIVE PRELIMINARY SKETCH

ENLARGED DETAILS OF THE MURALS OF THE SCIENCES AND OF THE ARTS

Rafael Morán Rumoroso

info@universidad-laboral-gijon.es