Welcome A beautiful performanceObserver highlights a recently opened museum exhibition in a museum not in New York City, and places we know and like have attracted a lot of attention.
It is impossible to distinguish Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) from his relationship with King Philip IV. Philip wrote an introduction so that Velázquez could learn painting in Italy, which was not important in developing his colors, compositions, and melodrama. The painter felt that the king was so close that he even painted himself with his daughter’s portrait. Las Meninas (1656), this is probably the greatest painting in Spain. This is a lesson for all of us, explaining your comfort with your boss, and perhaps a useful skill for King Charles III, who might have been better official portraits if his own court painters had not despised him so obviously.
Velázquez’s work was recently admired at the Blanton Art Museum of Spirit & Splendor: El Greco: El Greco, Velázquez and Hispanic Baroque, bringing these two Spanish greats together with Francisco de Zurbarán and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. These paintings are associated with paintings by Latin American artists such as Luis Juárez, Baltasar de Echaveibía, José de Páez and Melchor Pérez Holguín. In two centuries and 57 works at the Museum and Library of the Hispanic Society in New York City, the exhibited works show how Spanish paintings were translated for America, and debt is the entire medium attributed to the strong Baroque style of the Iberian Peninsula.
There is almost too much to enjoy here, especially if you are the type to plan a trip to Madrid, that is at least two days, and maybe three should be allocated to Prado. Velázquez’s Portrait of a little girl (C.1648-1652) is in stark contrast to his portrayal of Infanta Margarita Teresa and is one of only two portraits by Velázquez from non-royal children. The princess has white blonde hair and rose cheeks and a mature and confused smile on the corners of her mouth, the little brunette girl seems to be alert. They even face the opposite direction.
El Greco’s pietà (C.1574-1576) It feels like the same democratic posture. You can really feel the weight of the body of Christ as Mary and two female mourners lifted up Christ. All three struggles carry a bold blue belt, compared to the paleness of the dead. If you choose to look at it, Mary’s pain will be very bad: Her face is the same as the cross on Golgotha. Of course, these are El Greco styles and for a long time.
We turn to Mexico to bring back the charm. Cana’s Wedding (1696) Nicolás Corea used the glittering mother-of-pearl, a merger of European elegance and the New World craft tradition. Two people have actual auras, but everyone seems to be glowing – the water that turns into wine has that effect on people. The mosaic elements of the material are contained throughout the scene. Isn’t that a good party?
“Spirit and Glory: El Greco, Velázquez and Hispanic Baroque” will be on display at the Brandon Museum of Art until February 1, 2025.
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