ANTONIO LOPEZ, A REALIST MASTER PAINTER

Recently I have visited an exhibition of one of my favourite contemporary Spanish painters at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and since I enjoyed so much the visit I thought I could write a post about him and share it here.

Antonio Lopez Garcia was born on January 6th, 1936 in Tomelloso (Ciudad Real) a few months before the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. It first appeared that Antonio would continue in the family tradition as a farmer but thanks to his uncle Antonio Lopez Torres, a local painter of landscapes, who gave him his first lessons, he moved to Madrid in 1949 in order to study for entrance to the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.

Between 1950 and 1955 he studied art there, winning some awards. While at the school he developed a friendship with Maria Moreno, also a painter, whom he would marry in 1961. Madrid of the postwar period was isolated from the international panorama of art and cultura and all the information he could get was derived from library books at the school.

In 1955, after winning the III National Art Contest in his final year of art school, he was awarded a trip to Italy by the Spanish Ministry of Education, in order to study the works of Renaissance masters. During this period he began to reevaluate Spanish painting in the Prado, especially Velazquez, a constant reference in his painting.

In 1957 his work had registered a certain surreal quality, remaining his fantastic vein at least until 1964. Through the mid-1960s, as he said, “the physical world gained more prestige in my eyes”. There are many affinities with the Tuscan Renaissance in his work in three dimensions. He depicts humble people, buildings, desolated spaces, images of his garden and landscape and humbled objects of domestic surroundings and the city of Madrid is a constant theme in his work, in his cityscapes he emphasizes the anonymity of the contemporary cities. Usually he works in his paintings for more than twenty years, even some of them remaining unfinished.

He is a versatile realist and it is possible to establish links between his work and the new European figurative tendencies of the American hyperrealism. According to his techniques, he is proficient in the traditional media of pencil drawing, oil painting on board, carved wood sculpture and bas relief in plaster. In fact his works shows in three media (painting, drawing and sculpturing).

He is not very prolific, so he has only had a handful of one-artist shows. In 1961 he had his first solo show in Madrid and later, in 1965 and 1968, at the Staempfli Galery in New York. His last retrospective exhibition took place in 1993 and in these two last decades he has produced some of his masterpieces. And currently he is having a temporary exhibit at the Thyssen Museum in Madrid, which will finish on 25th September.

In recent years Lopez was inducted as an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Letter in New York (2004) and in 2006 he was awarded the Velazquez Prize for Fine Arts.

Recently you could see him painting at Puerta del Sol Square in Madrid on a new work, regardless of the curious stares of people who stopped to look at him. Then, after sunset he picked up his easel and other stuff and, leaving to go home. He did this every day for several days.

And here you are some more of his works:

Don't you think he is amazing?

 

SANLUCAR DE BARRAMEDA BEACH HORSE RACES

The Sanlúcar Horse Races are one of the biggest sporting and social events of the Andalusian summer, declared of International Tourist Interest. These days it will focus once again, thousands of residents and visitors on the beaches of Bajo de Guía. They attract horses, riders and spectators from all over Europe. It is estimated that somewhere in the region of 50,000 spectators assemble on the beaches to enjoy the races.

There are two race meetings about a fortnight apart with the dates depending on the tide timetables for August. This year it will be held from 10 to August 12 and 25 to 27 this month. They take place on the beach at Sanlúcar de Barrameda near Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz) in Andalucia. Officially these famous horse races have been taking place since 1845. This year 2011 celebrates the 166th edition of the races. You can check this year's races dates on the official Sanlucar Horse Races website (press HERE).

These races are considered the oldest in Spain and also hold the title of the ancient world held at beaches rather than a racetrack. Riders wear traditional colours and caps and the races are run over distances ranging between 1.2km and 2km. Prize money over the meeting amounts to several million euros, with winnings for each race ranging from a few hundred to several thousand. The biggest prize goes to the winner of the 'Gran Premier Ciudad de Sanlúcar' which takes place on the final day of racing over a 2km course.

This little town lies on the estuary of the River Guadalquivir overlooking the Doñana National Park. Even without the horses Sanlúcar is a charming place to visit. Historically, it served as the setting off point for the expeditions of Columbus in 1498 and Magellan in 1519 and is well known as part of the famous "Sherry Triangle" along with Jerez de la Frontera and El Puerto de Santa Maria. Visitors should head down to the riverside at Bajo de Guía where there are some superb restaurants offering local seafood delicacies which you can enjoy with a glass of manzanilla as the sun goes down over Doñana.

To see more about these races, click on this link:

http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/spanish-festivals/sanlucar-horse-races.htm

Source:

http://www.carrerassanlucar.es/index.html

http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACHES IN SPAIN

Spain has a long coastline along which there is a large number of beaches, whether in the north, east or south of the country. Many of them are very beautiful and it is a little hard to choose and to stand out some of them above the rest. Nevertheless I have tried to list those considered the most gorgeous and here it is:

Rodas beach, this is considered, according to The Guardian newspaper,

the most beautiful beach in the world and is part of the

archipelago called Cies Island, in the province of Pontevedra in Galicia.
Its sands are 6000 years old, are quartz and very white.
 And just out of  curiosity, it is said it was visited by the Roman general Julius Caesar.

Galdana Beach, in Menorca island

Bolonia Beach, in Cádiz

Langre Beach, in Cantabria.

Las Catedrales Beach, in Lugo (Galicia)

Los Muertos Beach, in Almeria

Salada Beach, in Ibiza

L'illa Roja, in Gerona

Silencio Beach, in Asturias

El Mosul Beach, in Almeria

Mazagón Beach, in Huelva

Salada Beach, in Ibiza

And if you want to keep on watching more beautiful photographs of beaches, I invite you to visit my other blog in Spanish where I have posted about the most strangely coloured beaches in the world and this is the link:

http://eltrolleydenieves.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your visits and I'll be back here in a few days
(I am going to enjoy a short beach holiday in the Valencian coastline).
See you soon!

THE DUCHESS OF ALBA GIVES AWAY HER INHERITANCE IN ADVANCE TO MARRY

in a party last June with Alfonso

This is not the first post I have written about her and it won’t be the last one but I have to admit she is one of my favourite celebrities in Spain, because of many reasons. And now she is again in the news because she has given away her inmense personal fortune in order to be free to marry his 60 aged fiancé Alfonso Diez.

The children of the Duchess have had until now blocked her plans to marry Alfonso Diez, a civil servant in the department of Social Security who also runs a PR business.

Her six children were all born from her first marriage to Pedro Luis Martinez de Irujo, son of the Duke of Sotomayor, who died in 1972. Being a widowed in 1978 she shocked the nation when she remarried to the former jessuist priest and intellectual Jesus Aguirre y Oritz de Zarate, who died in 2001. And in 2008 a new man appeared in the life of the Duchess, Alfonso Diez, whose relationship was said ti be based on a long friendship and without plans to marry. But things changed and meanwhile the civil servant was getting closer to the Duchess, the opposition of the children to the wedding was noticeable.

On February 26th, Cayetana of Alba criticized their behavior in an radio interview: "We do not know why my kids put difficulty into our relationship. We do not hurt anyone. I hope things will be sorted out. Alfonso wants nothing, he has renounced everything. He doesn’t want anything but me”. At that moment, the Duchess was already clearing out obstacles to their marriage plans.

At the beginning of July, before the family started summer holidays, Cayetana of Alba called all her children to a meeting in the office of notary Luis Nuñez in Madrid. Some weeks later we all learned why, after reading a press report from the Europa Press agency: the duchess had decided to donate part of their fortune in life. At 85, Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, the 18th Duchess of Alba and third woman to head the House of Alba in its 539 years of history, the aristocrat with so many titles that it is doubtful if she could recite them by heart, had decided to settle one of the thorniest issues in any family, what do I give to whom?

The duchess’s personal wealth is estimated at between 600m and 3.500bn euros, though she insists she is not that wealthy. She has said: "I have a lot of artworks, but I can’t eat them, can I?". And this is true, there is no doubt, but that includes: hundreds of paintings (velazquez, goyas, tizianos....), waterprints (even one signed by Charles Chaplin and another signed by Empress Eugenia de Montijo), tapestries, pieces of pottery, miniatures, a first edition of Don Quijote, Columbus’ first map of America and the last will and testament of King Fernando el Católico, father of Catherine of Aragon and many more…… But finally the distribution of the main part of the inheritance has been thus:

- Carlos Fitz-James Stuart (Madrid, 1948), the firstborn of the Duchess will receive the title, besides the Fundación Casa de Alba (with its palaces of Liria and Monterrey, among others), the collection of fifty dukedoms, marquis, counties and the responsibility to preserve the historical legacy of the House of Alba.

- Alfonso Martinez de Irujo, duke of Aliaga (Madrid, 1950), will receive the ancient castle of El Tejado (XIV) in Salamanca and several rural plots.

- Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, Earl of Siruela (Madrid, 1954), editorial director of the prestigious Siruela and Atalanta, will receive some rural properties.

- Fernando Martinez de Irujo, Marquis of San Vicente del Barco (Madrid, 1959) will inherit the stately home in Marbella Las Cañas and some farms.

- Cayetano Martinez de Irujo, Count of Salvatierra (Madrid, 1963) will own the palace of San Sebastian and Arbaizenea farmhouse Las Arroyuelas in Seville.

- Eugenia Martinez de Irujo, Duchess of Montoro (Madrid, 1968) will own an estate in Ibiza where the Duchess of Alba is just spending her summer holidays with her boyfriend. Also she will inherit the farmhouse La Pizana.

And the Duchess has also wanted to donate a country estate to eight of his nine grandchildren and the ninth grandchild (son of his firstborn) has inherited El Palacio de las Dueñas in Seville.

And now there is only one thing to wait for: the wedding, which presumably will take place in Seville next September. But meanwhile she is relaxing in Ibiza, perhaps thinking of her big day.......

Source:

http://www.elpais.com/

HORCHATA, A POPULAR VALENCIAN DRINK FOR SUMMER

Horchata is the name of a traditional and very popular beverage in Spain as an ice cold drink during the hot summers. Horchata is made from tiger nuts which are the tubers of the nut sedge plant which were introduced into Spain, during the period of Muslim presence in Valencia (from the 8th to 13th century).

The tiger nut, a brown tuber is also known as “earth almond”, it is sweet and milky and has a flavour reminiscent of almonds or hazelnuts. They are high in unsaturated fatty acids, fibre and are about 25% fat, 30% starch and 7% protein, which makes the drink a healthy alternative to tea and coffee, because it is nutritious and beneficial for the body. Even sometimes horchata is also used in place of milk by the lactose intolerant.

In Valencia there are “horchaterias”, which are the places where you can drink it, along with other summer drinks as milkshakes, icecreams of many different flavours, “blanco y negro” (that is iced coffe with cream), “agua de cebada”, lemonades …………..

For anyone who wants to try making it, the recipe to make it is as follows:

Ingredients

• 200 grs. of Tigernut.

• 150 grs. of Sugar

• 1 Lemon

• 1 Cinnamon Stick

• 1 litre of warm water

Method

1. Clean the tigernuts several times and then keep them in water for at least 12 hours, in the fridge.

2. Strain them and crush them with a mortar.

3. In a large bowl/container add the water and the sliced lemons.

4. Mix in the ground tigernuts and cover the container leaving it at room temperature for about 2 hours.

5. After two hours add the sugar and cinnamon stick and stir until sugar is completely dissolved.

6. Strain the liquid with a fine sieve or cloth to remove all of the larger bits of tigernuts, then strain until it is smooth in texture, this may need doing two or three times to remove all the bits.

Then keep the drink in your fridge and it will stay good for at least five days. You can serve it liquid or iced (just keeping it in the freezer firstly). And traditionally horchata is served with “fartons”, which are a like long and thin iced buns, usually they are dunked into the horchata (like the churros with the coffee).

And now, what is only left to do is just to drink it and enjoy this traditional Spanish beverage, specially if you are suffering a scorching hot day!

SPANISH PARADISE AND ART IN NEW YORK AND MOSCOW THIS SUMMER

Whoever reads this blog regularly will have realised that the city of Granada and the Alhambra Palace is one of my favorite places in the world. I have a special weakness for it, I never get tired of admiring it, you could ever see that I am nearly bewitched for it, as also happened to Washington Irving and therefore everything that has to do with it appeals me in a magnetic way.

And today this post has to do with it. This summer the streets of the Bronx, New York, will be enraptured over the aroma of the gardens of the Alhambra in Granada, aromas of honeysuckle, lilac, orange, rose, jasmine or violet wrap the Big Apple, attracting the curious who want to visit the exhibition entitled “Spanish Paradise: Gardens of the Alhambra” and will be there until August 21 in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

A collage of sources, arcades, pomegranates and palm trees will lead them to believe that they are in the real and genuine Alhambra Palace, taking them back to the days of Nazaries kings that built it.

And amid all this, will also take place many different cultural events such as poetry readings of the poet Federico Garcia Lorca, born in Granada, or public recognition of the New York writer Washington Irving, who was one of the first to proclaim the cultural value of the Alhambra through his famous stories “Tales of La Alhambra”. The Hispanic Society of America has also collaborated with the assignment for this exhibition of paintings, photographs, prints and drawings.

And there will be room for dining with Mediterranean food tastings, for concerts of flamenco and even for Islamic gardening courses! I think this is an attractive offer for people who travel to New York this summer or for whom just live there? I think it is worth to write it down on your list to go see.

To know more about it, please just have a look at this video, with actress Sigourney Weaver introducing this exhibition:

At the same time, Moscow also runs until September 25 another exhibition entitled "Dialogues. Baroque painting from Museums of Andalusia", in the Heritage Museum, with paintings and eighteenth-century religious iconography of Zurbaran, Murillo, Alonso Cano, and some more.

On display are paintings from four cities of Andalusia (for all of them who still doesn’t know it, it is a beautiful region in the south of Spain): Seville, Granada, Cordoba and Cadiz. They are dated from the 17th century, which was considered as the Golden Age of Spanish painting and it was known in art history as the Baroque period.

So, two interesting chances to enjoy Spanish art for the lucky people who can travel to New York or Moscow this summer!