The painter Maruja Mallo (Vivero, 1902 - Madrid, 1995) was one of the main artists of the “Generación del 27”, and a very important creator who traveled all over the world. The Galician artist moved to Madrid to study at the Royal Academy de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, where he established a great friendship with Salvador Dalí, but ended up leaving the academy because of his corseted system.

She lived nights of revelry and surrealist poetry with Dalí, Lorca or Alberti (with whom she lived an affair). Buñuel, on the other hand, could not bear it, perhaps because of Maruja's defense of free love and gender equality. Ortega gave him the facilities of his Revista de Occidente for her first exhibition in Madrid. Mallo was also part of “Las sinsombrero"", the young intellectuals who scandalized prudish society for daring to go out without that garment.

As an artist she cultivated a very special surrealism. Her style went through two different stages, a colorful one in the 1920s with magical, cosmopolitan and optimistic themes; and another gloomy and dull in the 30s, more chaotic and unbalanced. At this stage she also experimented technically incorporating organic materials (ash, lime…).