Marina and Art

Contemporary women  I choose to talk about some of my favorite contemporary painters and continue to produce work in the present. All of the artists featured here are women, and so are the subjects of their portraits. They represent all kinds of points of view on feminity.  The representation varies, but all are surrealist, with some lowbrow elements and the romanticization of the female gaze.  Miss Van  Miss Van started painting in 1993 in Toulouse, France. Although she has spent most of her life in Barcelona. Initiating the feminine movement in Street Art.  Her representation of women is instantly recognizable; she has murals in Europe, the USA, and Asia.  Her works are filled with emotion and romantic darkness, and delicacy. Her iconic Sultry female characters appear in surreal burlesque motives, with sensual but dark animal masks and dangerous involving surroundings. My favorite aspect is how tired they look as if they could eye-roll you at any point.  There is a quality of softnes

Spanish War Art Beginning of the war Canibalismo de Otono, Salvador Dali, 1936. Italy In 1936, when the Spanish civil war started, Dali and Gala migrated to Italy. Naturally, this theme is reflected in Dali´s artwork. His artistic expression shifts to record the historical situation with his apathetic and neutral position.  In this painting, we find a couple of people that form one single figure. They are devouring each other, and the scene is full of mutilations and grotesque viscera. The brushwork is exquisite, and the  soft blending creates a warm and inviting atmosphere. The rendering of the light, presumably at sunrise or sunset, fills the scene with warm colors. The composition is fluid , melting, and the figures are decomposed and dissolved until one remains. They seem to enjoy it; they seem to be caught in their own sensual pleasure that both are more than happy to engage with. Most organic materials rot and decompose, which does not bother the couple.  Unlike Picasso, Dali

Spanish Impresionism  Sorolla. Chicos en la playa 1909 Goya. La lechera de Burdeos , Arround 1827 The last painting that goya completed during his life was the Milkmaid of Budeos. He was in his eighties, and the portrait also reveals the most mature facet of the artist. It maintains the vitality of his first rococo paintings, but the lines' short brush strokes and expressivity bring this painting to the next era. This portrait was believed to be the precursor of the impressionists, who saw a starting point for their movement. It is not considered like such, but I wanted to discuss what the Spanish impressionist were working with when they started.  Sorolla was not born until four decades after the milkmaid was painted. However, he made his way into the art scene little by little and got a fabulous reputation after a trip to the states; many of his paintings are in American museums, and a significant portion of them are kept in his house, which is now a museum.  He approached the n

Las Meninas  Photo from Museo Del Prado I choosed  Las Meninas, de Velazquez. Being Spanish, I simply could not stop talking about it. I have visited the Prado Museum many times and spent thousands of minutes looking at it.  The painting is a portrait of princess Margarita of Austria, but many more persons are portrayed than that. Margarita occupies the front plane, illuminated by a direct she stands out with her white dress and perfect posture. Surrounding her are Las Meninas, who are her personal maids, and what gives this work its title. Unfortunately, it is neither signed nor dated, so our best guess is to assume how old the Princess looks, knowing she was born in 1651. To the left, we can see a giant canvas painted by Velazquez himself. He decided to add a discrete self-portrait in the shadow of the canvas. Behind him, we find a mirror, and the reflection reveals no other than Felipe IV and the Mariana of Austria, the king and the queen. This has never been done before, portraying

  Revolution is knocking at the door La Puerta de Alcalá, en Madrid (1778). By Francisco Gutierrez and Roberto Michel  La Puerta de Alcala is a declaration of intentions from Carlches III. He destroyed the last gate and erected this monument on Indepedization square.  The building was made with stone, cut in shape to form half-round arcs. The composition is very horizontal, and the heavy rock is designed to intimidate with its echoes once you stand below it.  The decoration follows the classic themes, with Doric and Jonic column heads. The flower crowns reference the grandiosity of the monument, along with the sculptures that represent the virtues and the royal shield. In addition, it mimics the roman triumph arcs from the roman empire that can also be found in Spain.  It was built with the sole purpose of being a monument for the city. It welcomes people to the city and serves as a front to the Paseo del Prado street and the Cibeles fountain. This particular style is borrowed from fre

  El Greco, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Oil paint and canvas. It measures 4,80 x 3,60 m.  El Greco made the painting that I will discuss today. Although he is not an Italian painter, I like his approach to Mannerism in his work. The fact that he studied these techniques in Italy counts towards the same movement, I believe.    The scene represents the miracle that, according to tradition, San Esteban and San Agustin performed together. They descended from the heavens to bury Gonzalo Ruiz de Toledo. He was the lord of the Orgad villa and had an honorable life that the saints wanted to award.  It is a wonderful array of all the mannerist techniques that El Greco had on his sleeve. The dreadful and elongated bodies, almost impossible foreshortenings, brilliant colors that tasted sour. The light gets bent at will, casting exaggerated shadows to bring up the contrast with the more light planes. Almost all the light comes from above, but in the terrenal plane, the clothes shine a li