Zofia Soroko

21 st century Spanish art- A Linear Progression

Spain- A beautiful country with an incredibly diverse landscape and a history

of separation (both culturally and physically) from the majority of continental

Europe. This peninsula is segmented by mountain chains and plateaus, removed

from France via the Pyrenees, and vastly different from the cultures of France and

the like due to 400+ years of influence from the Umayyad remnants (which escaped

the Middle East to rule and survive in the Iberian peninsula). But despite this degree

of separation and the strong nationalism (and regionalism) of Spain, does this

modern age of electronic connectivity alter the art of Spain? Has the pastiching and

cultural trends that have defined Spain as a cultural presence vanished to make

room for new global trends? In this essay I will argue that Spain, while of course

taking in modern trends from around the world, has continued in their specific style

and still looks back and takes inspiration from their proud and unique history, and

that Modern and Contemporary art in Spain looks back to the greatest artists of

Spain to create a strong sense of identity and cultural connection that forces the

artists into the timeline of Spanish artistic progression.

Spain, as a country, has always been a bit of an “outsider” due to its place on

the continent. As a peninsula covered in mountains, it was set aside from the rest of

the country (and, in fact, divided amongst itself). The people of Asturias and Galicia

are known to have many customs shared with the Celtic people, the south shares

many North African design elements (as the Strait of Gibraltar is only 8.9 miles

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across at its narrowest point, making it a short and fairly easy trip from Spain to

Morocco. With the addition of the Muslim Umayyad dynasty that entered Spain in

711 and ruled Spain almost entirely until the 1100s (before being officially removed

in 1492), Spain as a country is incredibly diverse and foreign with a rich history of

many different cultures merging together at an entirely different level when

compared to other European countries.

As we move forward in time into the 16th century, the art of Spain retained

many of its stylistic and thematic elements. Take, for example, Doménikos

Theotokópoulos, referenced here as “El Greco”. As one of the most widely

recognized painters and sculptors of the Spanish Renaissance, El Greco’s dramatic

and proto-expressionistic style retained many of the elements of Spanish style that

were passed down throughout the centuries. Despite being from Greece, his move to

Spain and connection to the art world and culture made him (like the many

immigrants to the Iberian Peninsula before him) an honorary Spaniard. After all,

Spain is one European country that historically integrates outsiders in (as long as

they are Roman Catholic). While his style is decidedly more Italian, his Mannerist

emphasis on hyper-elegance and his experimental compositions seemed to harken

back to the romantic and intense Dutch masters, who were quite the favorite of

Ferdinand and Isabella.

Indeed, El Greco’s works were highly emotional and dramatic, themed

around religious stories or containing references to his own faith. One of his most

prized paintings, The Burial of Count Orgaz, features a long-time benefactor of Santo

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Tomé in Toledo. Most of El Greco’s patrons were wealthy churchgoers and religious

figures, and as a devout Catholic himself his works featured many religious figures

or allusions to the Catholic faith. Count Orgaz is pictured in the arms of several

church members, surrounded by mourners of both the earthly and heavenly variety.

At the height of the painting is Jesus, eyes cast away. The rendering of the figures,

while realistic, captures a certain eerie light- the contrast is sharp, making all of the

faces seem angular. The clouds also have “edges”, and appear to be more stagnant

then the airy Baroque clouds that were surging their way through Italy.

El Greco’s work in Spain was not always so well received, however. During

this time period, being commissioned by the King was the height of accomplishment

(unless of course, you consulted Velázquez, who quickly grew jaded at his role). In

April of 1580 he was supplied with colors and asked to complete a depiction of The

Martyrdom of Saint Maurice for the monastery church of the Escorial. Yet, as

evidenced by the work commissioned to replace it a few months later (this work

was completed by Romulo Cincinnato, an Italian by birth), King Philip II was less

than pleased. El Greco found his patrons through his faith- a devout Catholic, El

Greco was fueled by fervor (and some would say madness).

As El Greco grew and matured, that angular quality took over. Completed just

before his death in 1614, Laocoön and his sons is the most visibly angular of all of his

works. The painting, which references the Grecian legend of Laocoön and his sons

(who were killed by serpents for angering the gods), still contains religious and local

undertones in keeping with Spanish tradition. The background features the city of

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Toledo, which references a local legend that the people of Toledo are the

descendants of Trojans (with Troy being the setting of the original story). Toledo is

depicted as a gloomy and grey city, surrounded by turmoil. Turbulent clouds

dominate the sky, and the whole world seems cast in shades of grey. While the

elongated figures are clearly Mannerist, the harsh forms are nearly segmented by

shadows. On the right of the frame, the on looking figures are abstracted into a

vague smoky blob, their features barely ascertainable from the washes of light and

dark.

Another of his works of note was The Vision of Saint John- even further

abstracted from his depiction of Laöcoon and sons, this piece is almost unreadable.

Also called Breaking the Fifth Seal, the faces are all distorted, figures smoky and

vague, and the background unplaceable- this piece would read as modern even in

today’s galleries. While retaining the Spanish painting tradition of heightened

emotion, hidden meaning and religion, The Vision of Saint John not only keeps with

Spanish traditions and legends, but also laid down the groundwork for the next

great Spanish artist I will discuss- Pablo Picasso.

Described by Afred Warner as “the El Greco of our time”, Picasso’s constant

controversy with his patrons, innovative spirit, and unorthodox painting methods

all bear a striking resemblance to El Greco’s own experience. It is no question as to

whether or not Picasso saw any of El Greco’s works- upon seeing the

aforementioned work Picasso said it had reconfirmed his faith in his “alma

Española”, or Spanish Soul. He called El Greco the “ultimate Spaniard”- a man who

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painted the spirit and “felt the mystical inner construction of life”. This truth is

reflected in Picasso’s work, particularly his Rose and Blue Periods.

Starting with his Blue Period, which took place from 1901-1904, the

monochromatic blue-greens served as a palette that washed all of his figures with

melancholy emotions, often showing signs of “El Greco-esque” sharpness and

angularity. Take, for example, Picasso’s 1903 work Celestina. Done in Picasso’s Blue

Period, which took place from 1901 to 1904, the melancholy and monochromatic

style resembles El Greco’s works, particularly the expressions and tenebrism of The

Burial of Count Orgaz. This particular painting (and many of his Rose Period pieces

depicting carnival workers) also recalls the Casta Paintings of the colonies- the idea

of painting the local people within your country despite class or profession existed

far before the 19th century Realist movement, although the meaning behind the

colonial depictions were more moralizing than sympathetic. While the Casta

paintings were primarily designed to imply that Spanish blood was better than any

other group, their popularity grew as people of all backgrounds saw themselves

represented for the first time. While Picasso was in no way implying that one group

was better than another, his representations of the performers and prostitutes also

served as a kind of demographic survey- this time representing not different races,

but rather the people who worked in the shadowy undesirable jobs that many

people preferred to ignore. Spain above all other countries has a history of depicting

its people, for its people were what made it so unique. Picasso’s depiction of this

fortune-teller (and his later works, namely Acrobate et Juene Arlequin and Family in

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Saltimbanques) echoes this realistic depiction of hard-working people living difficult

and unique lives that was so characteristic of Spanish art, particularly in the

colonies. Despite the fact the Picasso produced much of his work in France, his work

is still inspired by his experiences and early life in Spain, as well as his deep

connection to his heritage and to Spanish artistic tradition. While he did live in Paris,

his art reflects his Spanish roots far more than his place of residence.

As we move past Picasso’s early career, we begin his shift into Cubism.

Although inspired by Cezanne’s geometric treatment of light and color, the

chiaroscuro and degradation of the human form mirrors the later works of El Greco,

namely the 1608 painting Opening of the Fifth Seal. El Greco’s treatment of light and

color is arguably closer to Picasso’s early cubist works than Cezanne is- the harsh

shadows create dramatic lines that slice through the drapery and background,

breaking most of the forms into basic angular shapes. As Picasso once said, “Nature

and art cannot be the same thing!”- this is evidenced in both Picasso and El Greco’s

elongated, Mannerist, abstracted forms. This dramatic departure from the norm was

shocking to all other modern artists, with even close collaborator Georges Braque

comparing his painting style to “drinking petrol in the hope of spitting fire”.

One of Picasso’s most famous cubist works was his 1907 piece Les

Demoiselles d’Avignon. While the title is French, the location and subjects of the work

are decidedly Spanish. Inspired by the prostitutes of Spain (specifically the women

of Carrer d’Avinyó in Barcelona), Picasso depicts 4/5 women (depending on the

interpretation of the “masked” woman as a reflection or as her own character) in the

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nude, several of their faces morphed into forms resembling African masks, a popular

artistic import of the time period. Picasso also said that he drew much of his

inspiration from archaic Iberian sculpture, once again proving the strong connection

between Spanish artists and their frequent pastiching of Iberian arts. As seen in the

image below, the facial shapes of the Iberian sculpture closely matches the angular

features and almond-shaped eyes of the women in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

Figure 1: Iberian female sculpture from 3rd century

BCE

These women are a direct reflection of his childhood events, as he spent

much of his formative teenage years hanging around brothels and interacting with

the women there. He described these women as insecure, and recalled the painting

as “[his] first exorcism”, viewing the figures and their emotional connection to his

own childhood in Spain as his innermost demons.

Picasso’s Baroque inspiration was not only drawn from El Greco, but from

classically beautiful court painter Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez. Born in

Figure 2: Detail of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

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1599, Velázquez studied painting and quickly ascended to the coveted position as

leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. One of his most renowned works is the

famous Las Meninas, an oil work painted in 1656 that not only served as royal

portraiture, but as a work that bends perspective and calls attention to the many

audiences of the work. In the 1656 piece, Velázquez paints Princess Margaret as the

focus, yet portrays himself as the clear artist, using the idea of the many ways this

scene is viewed to his advantage. In the painting, the gathering of people is viewed

from the back (where a man stands in the doorway), by the King and Queen (whose

portrait appears in the back left-hand side), by the viewer of the portrait, and by the

artist himself, whose angle seems impossible to allow for the kind of painting he is

completing. The work is hailed as one of the best portraits in the world, and for good

reason- yet Velázquez was never truly happy in his life and always strove to achieve

more and more. Velázquez’s cross, displayed prominently on his chest, was the

highest honor a court painter could achieve, and was possibly even added

posthumously to the portrait as a means of elevating the man behind the image even

further. Picasso was transfixed by Las Meninas, completing 58 painting variations on

the classic portrait. Picasso tends to focus these works on the artist himself,

expanding Velázquez’s cross marker to a towering structure- the symbol of status

elevated to the entirety of his being. The idea that an artist could be so well loved by

his government and his people was exciting to Picasso, and the artist as a member of

society with accolades and courtly achievements captured his imagination. Picasso

took this famous portrait and changed various elements, recreating the image but

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with a new intention 58 times over. One of the biggest changes Picasso made was

increasing the size of Velázquez and the Cross of Saint James on his chest, having the

artist dominate the entire image. By focusing the image onto Velázquez’s Cross of

Saint James, the painting becomes not about the princess or the people in the image,

but rather an emphasis on the role of the artist in Spanish society. This referencing

and research of Spanish art once again marks Picasso as an artist intent on

continuing the tradition of Spanish influence into modern artworks.

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Figure 3: Las Meninas, Velázquez, 1656 Figure 4: Las Meninas, Picasso, 1957

Picasso, like many modern and contemporary artists, drew his inspiration

from his Spanish identity, no matter how far away he travelled. A painting of his

with a fierce connection to his Spanish identity was his work Guernica. Painted in

1937 as a response to the Sunday morning market bombing in Guernica, Spain, this

stunning black and white work captures the horror and suffering inflicted by a

government onto its own people. Cattle, horses, children, and men all lay strewn in a

bustling street, as the eye above (representative of the eye of God) is off, blind to the

atrocities below. While obviously representative of an entirely Spanish subject

matter, the piece also has signs of a pastiche of 2 other Spanish artists- Zurburán of

the 17th century and Goya of the 19th century. Both of these artists used heavy,

velvety black backgrounds, both to contrast their works and to provide a stronger

emotional punch.

One of the best examples of this in Zurburán’s work is his piece The

Crucifixion. In this depiction of Christ on the cross, the all-enveloping black of the

background seems to suck in all sources of light and contrasts heavily with the pale

skin and fabric of the Christ figure. This rich darkness creates a somber and heavy

tone, and is also seen in many of his still lives (which often have religious

connotations of the virtues of an impoverished life) and in his work Lamb of God, a

reference to the crucifixion in which a lamb takes the place of Jesus Christ. With

Guernica, the piece embodies both the somber emotions of looking back at the event

and the horror of the moment. The black used creates a void, which forces the mind

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to focus on the events and emotions unfolding in front of you. Both pieces tell you

what you are viewing with their title, but without the title the viewer still

understands the sorrow and

tragedy of the scene. Another

similarity is in the abstraction of

what is being depicted. Picasso

uses visual abstraction in his

cubist forms, but despite the realism of Zurburán’s painting the subject is

abstracted. Instead of a traditional image of the crucifixion, Zurburán chose to

substitute a lamb (a symbol of Jesus). The lamb embodies the sorrow and

acceptance that Christ had for his own death without showing you the actual event,

making Zurburán’s work also abstracted.

Figure 5: Agnus Dei, Zurburán, 1640 Figure 6:

Guernica, Picasso, 1937

Goya too relied on heavy black backgrounds

to showcase the emotional qualities of his pieces.

His series “Black Paintings” was done entirely on black background that seems to

swallow the viewer. One of these pieces is Saturn Devouring His Son, which shows

the Titan Saturn consuming his god-children (depicted here as adults). The piece,

which was a representation of his struggles with his own children as well as his fear

of being consumed by his age (as Saturn is also a symbol akin to Father Time), plays

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well with the black background, which once again serves as a consuming void in

which swallows hope with somber darkness. In this case, the comparison with

Guernica is once again in the use of black as a vacuum to further emphasize the

horror and shock of the events depicted in the image. The heavy background of Goya

makes the image of Saturn consuming his son even more vibrant and aggressive.

Picasso uses this method, evidenced in both of these Spanish pieces. He sets

Guernica, a moment of such horror and destruction, against a void that swallows all

hope, all reason, all joy, forcing the viewer to focus their attention on the emotion

and terror emanating from the abstracted people and animals in the aftermath of

the bombings.

Figure 7: Saturn Devouring His Son, Goya, 1819-1823

Picasso was an incredibly prolific artist, creating works from the 1890’s

(where he studied under his father after being admitted to art school at just 16

years old) to his death in 1973. Despite working predominantly in Paris, he

constantly referenced the artists of his ancestral home, calling El Greco the “ultimate

Spaniard”, drawing inspiration from his childhood, and even looking back to what

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the archaic Iberian artists depicted his caves and clay. But his work in the Cubist

style as been added to the timeline of great Spanish artists, and is now being used to

inspire a wave of new contemporary artists who also call Spain their home. Take, for

example, contemporary artist José Manuel Merello. Born in Madrid, Spain in 1960,

he self-admittedly drew his early inspiration from the works of Picasso and Frida

Kahlo. As he states in his writings, their abstracted, surrealist style is incorporated

messily in his modern, colorful, and avant-garde works, continuing the tradition of

historic Spanish influence on modern artists.

One of his works, entitled Blue Vase, is comparable in style to Picasso’s Still

life with Vase, painted in 1944 in his cubist style (which worked using the concept of

4 dimensional structures flattening onto the 2 dimensional canvas). The harsh lines

and many-edged forms are to be read as many views of the same object, as if the

artist was viewing and depicting all sides at once. In both works the background is a

series of geometric forms, and the vases are flattened and sharp with many edges.

While Merello’s color scheme is much more vibrant and his images are more

flattened, the reference to Picasso’s cubism is clearly evident. The bright colors and

flat styling even seem to reference some of Picasso’s earlier synthetic cubist works

(such as Picasso’s 1921 collage Three Musicians). Merello uses this original Post

Cubist style throughout the majority of his works, from Catalina to Don Quijote

Alucinado.

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Figure 8: Still Life with Flowers and Lemons, Picasso, 1941 Figure 9: Blue Vase, Merello,

Merello uses his works as a platform to showcase his culture, his heritage,

and his background. The aforementioned work (Don Quijote Alucinado) is a visual

representation of a world-renowned Spanish novel which follows the life and trials

of Don Quijote, a 17th century “knight” best known for its famous windmill scene.

After reading so many chivalric romance novels, he loses his mind and sets out to

revive chivalry and bring justice back to the world. The work is considered to be the

most influential work of literature from the Golden Age of Spain, and thus is deeply

rooted in the culture and history of Spain.

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Figure 10: Don Quijote Alucinado, Merello

Not only does Merello openly discuss his Spanish/Hispanic sources of

inspiration, but the subject matter of his works are predominantly the people

(women) of Spain. With titles such as Spanish Girl and Espanola, the people and

scenes depicted are clearly Spanish and labeled as such, once again reveling in

Spanish heritage and identity.

By choosing to emulate and draw inspiration from Picasso, Merello is

bringing the proud tradition of Iberian pastiching and influence forward into the

21st century. From the archaic caves to the Middle Ages, through the Inquisition and

into the age of cellphones and art shows, Spain has remained deeply invested in its

own culture and heritage, choosing to make the effort to support and represent its

past more so than any other country. Their geographic layout separated them, but it

is their art that sets them apart. The artists of Spain are uniquely connected to their

sense of Spanish identity, choosing to reference specifically Spanish artists in their

modern works. Spain has always been deeply connected to its own unique identity

and has shown its love and appreciation of its unique style since the age of

colonialism and conquest. These artists have highlighted their identity through their

references to their country’s art and artists and have thus woven their art

permanently into their culture’s heritage. By associating themselves with the greats

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of Spain, they have ensured that their art will forever be remembered in the timeline

of artistic progression.

Works Cited

Baetjer, Katharine. "El Greco." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 39.1, El Greco (1981): n. pag. JSTOR. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.Merello, José Manuel. "Escritorios Sueltos." Arte Moderno.- Merello, Obra Reciente. Ltimas Pinturas 2008 Y 2009. Exposiciones Actuales. Madrid, Valencia. Galeras De Arte. N.p., 2008. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.Pijoan, Joseph. "El Greco-A Spaniard." The Art Bulletin 12.1 (1930): 12. Web.Werner, Alfred. "The Unknown Picasso." The Massachusetts Review 2.2 (1961): 349-54.JSTOR. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.

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