He exhibited seven oil paintings in the major Spanish Contemporary Art exhibition held in the Museum Jeu de Paume in Paris, in February. He signed, along with Luis Blanco Soler, Norah Borges, Ángel Ferrant, Gustavo Pittaluga, and Guillermo de Torre, the manifesto of the Madrid section of the Amigos de las Artes Nuevas (ADLAN), whose headquarters were on Carrera de San Jerónimo St. When the manifesto was published in the press, one could easily see Moreno Villa’s influence in the final drafting of the text. The first event organized by ADLAN in Madrid was an exhibition of Picasso’s works; Moreno Villa gave a lecture on the artist’s work at the opening of the exhibition.
He published Salón sin muros, a small collection of poems in which his poetry evolved toward a more reflective style. This book contains some of his best poems, such as the first one, that gives the book its title. Juan Ramón Jiménez wrote an impassioned eulogy of the poet and his work, a stunning vindication of Moreno Villa’s place within the new Spanish poetry that might also be seen as the reconciliation between the two poets, who had been estranged for a long time.
He was selected to participate in the Pavilion of Spain at the Venice Biennale, in the exhibition organized by José Francés on Spanish new art. Moreno Villa exhibited two oil paintings.
He was living in the Residencia de Estudiantes when the Civil War broke out. He kept the Royal Palace archives opened and tried to go on with his daily life, until the siege of Madrid made it impossible. Moreno Villa began writing a series of poems about the war during the weeks that he spent sheltered in the Residencia, watching the airplane's combats and hearing the blasting of the artillery located a few meters away.
In November, he was evacuated from Madrid to Valencia, where the Republican government had already moved a few months earlier, with the First Expedition of Intellectuals organized by the Fifth Regiment of the Militias, and the Communist Party. Among his fellow travelers were Antonio Machado, and Pío del Río-Hortega. They lodged in the Casa de la Cultura Hispanica that had been converted into a hotel to accommodate the travelers, and where they could continue with their professional duties. He spent his time in Valencia dedicated to many activities. He worked in radio, participated in poetry readings held at public rallies, founded new journals such as Madrid and Hora de España, and began a series of lithographs about the war in the Renau printing shop.