El Pueblo: diario republicano de la mañana. Valencia: [s.n.], 1894-1939. Número extraordinari (1921), dedicat a Vicente Blasco Ibáñez.
Il·lustració de Dubón. Universitat de València. Biblioteca Històrica. BH HP-6/A-C

On the occasion of the centenary of homages paid to Vicente Blasco Ibáñez between the 15^th and the 22^nd of May 1921, the Historical Library of the Universitat de València invites us to rediscover the impact of this renowned Valencian’s work through an exhibition of its most outstanding pieces. This time, the Duque de Calabria hall will house a remarkable exhibition of the literary and journalistic production of Blasco, which is marked by a common denominator that nourished his multifaceted creative impulse for decades: the conquering of masses.

With this approach, the exhibition proposes a rereading of his character by highlighting his multifaceted nature. To what extent can one disassociate the view of this prolific novelist from that of El Pueblo’s director? While far from being disjunctive, these facets are simultaneously confused with the propaganda purposes of the Valencian federal republicanism’s leader and the magnitude of his publishing companies, always coexisting with the daydreams of a tireless traveller. Above all, we find ourselves before a passionate “man of action”, before a born communicator. There’s no doubt that the novel allowed Blasco to connect with the masses, the same way the cinema and rallies brought him closer to the town to which he addressed his journalistic articles.

Blasco Ibáñez y la conquista de las masas. Fondos de la Universitat de València joins the municipal commemoration of these homages and revisits the monumental work of this famous creator, focusing on his will of transcendence within the convulsive sociocultural and political context of the change of century.