Julio González, the pioneer of modern iron sculpture, found his most enduring rhythm in the female silhouette. This exhibition at IVAM reveals how his lineage of goldsmiths and the presence of the women in his life—particularly his daughter Roberta—transformed cold metal into a language of grace and political weight. His evolution from early realistic sketches to the radical drawing in space reflects not just an artistic shift, but a world where the private lives of women were finally spilling into the public light.

You're watching a forest of metal where heavy bronze gives way to the ethereal lines of Daphné. The light catches the jagged edges of Petite Montserrat effrayée, where the iron feels like a scream of resistance against the backdrop of history. As you move through Room G2, the sculptures seem to breathe; the empty forms aren't absences, but volumes of air held captive by González’s precise, poetic welds.

The Woman in the Work of Julio González is on view at IVAM Centre Julio González in Valencia, Spain, from 27 March 2026 to 28 February 2027. Presented on floor B, gallery G2, the exhibition looks at the central place women occupy in Julio González’s work, using the IVAM collection to follow the artist’s movement between private life, modern identity and formal experimentation.

The presentation brings together family portraits, images of women in everyday life, academic and abstract nudes, mothers, readers, peasant and urban figures, and works with historical or political force. Rather than isolating the female figure as a single theme, the exhibition uses it to map González’s evolution from figuration to abstraction, and from compact forms to more open sculptural structures.

Its wider context is also personal. IVAM connects the show to González’s family environment, the metalworking and decorative traditions around him, and the women who helped preserve his legacy, including his daughter Roberta González and heirs Carmen Martínez and Viviane Grimminger.

• A Master’s Evolution: Witness the transition from traditional academic nudes to the revolutionary use of space and void that defined modern sculpture.
• Rare Personal Insight: Explore how the artist’s family background in jewelry making influenced the delicate, ornate details of his larger-than-life iron figures.
• Historical Allegories: See iconic works like Maternité and Daphné that bridge the gap between intimate domestic life and the political turmoil of the mid-20th century.

Follow the chronological path to see how the metal loses weight and gains soul over time. Take a moment with the Petite Montserrat to feel the tension in the iron. Afterward, walk through the Turia Gardens towards the city center; the sprawling, repurposed riverbed mirrors González’s own ability to find new life and space in the structural bones of a city.