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Showing posts from March, 2023

Romanticismo

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

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

  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