When Maruja Mallo’s family moved to Madrid in 1922, she soon fell into the right crowd. After graduating from the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Mallo became a part of Spain’s Generation 27, which included the artists Salvador Dalí , Concha Méndez, and María Zambrano. Over time, she began to create precise, almost scientific renderings of shells, seaweed, and marine life, placed in hypnotic, otherworldly backgrounds. The dazzling Surrealist now gets her moment in Santander. —Elena Clavarino