Exclusive exhibition of Spanish masterpieces in Houston Automatic translate

The Museum of Fine Arts of Houston (The Museum of Fine Arts) announced that more than 100 masterpieces of one of the most famous collections of European painting in the world will be presented in the museum since December 16, 2012, as part of the exhibition Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces of the Prado (Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado).

The exclusive exhibition was organized as part of a new joint program of the two countries, the purpose of which will be to demonstrate the rich collection of the Prado Museum in the United States. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to learn in detail about the history of the development of painting in Spain from the 16th to the 19th century, to see how artists reflected radical changes in society and culture, politics and religion, exactly how painting contributed to the development of modern Spanish identity.

"Portrait of Spain" will demonstrate to the American audience an extraordinary panorama of court and religious paintings by the greatest European artists who lived and worked in Spain, such as Goya and Velazquez, Rubens and Titian. Gary Tinterow, director of the Houston Museum, said: “This exhibition marks the first time that Prado has organized such a wide exhibition on American territory. Nothing illustrates the completely rich traditions of Spain’s art and culture like the Prado, one of the best museums in the world, ”said Manolo Sanchez, President and CEO of BBVA Compass. “That’s why BBVA Compass took the opportunity to sponsor this show.”

The exposition will be divided into three parts, according to the chronological principle: from 1550 to 1770, 1770 to 1850, and 1850 to 1900.

The period 1550-1770: “Painting in an absolutist state” is represented by outstanding portraits, mythological scenes, still lifes of artists, including El Greco, Diego Velazquez and Francisco de Zurbaran, representatives of the Golden Age of Spain, when the empire was at the zenith of its global power.

Period 1770-1850: A Changing World dates back to the time of the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the French invasion of Spain, as well as the start of a series of devastating civil wars. The outstanding artist of this time was the unpredictable Francisco de Goya, the court painter of Charles IV and Charles V, who vividly portrayed the tragedy and madness of the war.

Period 1850-1900: “The Threshold of Modern Spain” after the Civil War, marked by the emergence of a young Spanish national identity in a period of relative economic prosperity. The painting is characterized by a tendency to romanticism, a reflection of the ideals and tastes of the middle class: landscapes, portraits, historical and religious scenes, nudity. Here are the works of Federico de Madraso, Eduardo Rosales, Mariano Fortuni, and Joaquin Sorolla, whose realistic paintings depicting the lives of fishermen and farmers, studying the influence of sunlight and shadow, subsequently pushed Spanish painting to the threshold of modernity.

Anna Sidorova