Art in Spain

Here is a link to an album of Tiles and Patterns from my trip to Spain and Morocco.

Art in Spain, a little of what I saw, what moved me.

These are a tiny show of what I saw and what I am still thinking about and what I want to study. My thoughts only.

Gaudi-I have always wanted to see Gaudi since taking History of Architecture in College. Seeing his work in real life was amazing. Somewhere I read or heard that Gaudi was all about form, color and light and I would add playfulness. Walking into the La Sagrada de Familia the light was astounding. Outside the stone carvings were beautiful. I did not associate Gaudi with nature but almost everything I saw had been influenced by natural forms.

El Greco- light, composition, emotion, color. I love El Greco.

The Alhambra- workmanship and pattern, much of which, maybe all inspired by natural form. Astounding. They say it was all color and gilt but I love the natural stone that remains. I looked at and photographed tile everywhere.

Velázquez- Murillo and others- lots more El Greco- the Spanish collection at the Museo del Prado was also astonishing. (The Italian collection was too but just in passing! We went straight to the Spanish.) The canvases are huge, as are the themes. Composition- using light to focus our attention and so much more-Detail and power.

Goya- first in Toledo (the most beautiful face I ever saw painted) and then at the Prado, rooms and rooms at the Prado. It seems he did not come to art easily. He painted “cartoons” early on for tapestry. He is inspiration for the struggle to succeed and the work it takes. He had a terrible dark period when he painted his walls with truly nightmarish pictures were transferred to canvas and live in the Prado.

Picasso- We only saw the “Guernica” at La Reina Sofia Museo along with the preliminary sketches and after thoughts. He wasn’t done when he was done. It does not disappoint. One of the most powerful anti-war pieces I have seen, along with Goya’s “The Third of May, 1808.”

In Morocco it was music- the call to prayer five times a day, very powerful, almost eerie. And I almost forgot I followed in Matisse’s footprints for a while. They have diamond shaped stones set in to show where he walked. This is one of his Moroccan sketches.

And then of course there were those Flamenco dancers! And the contemporary flower paintings at the Royal Botanical Gardens and …

“The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something and tell what it saw in a plain way…To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one.”…Ruskin