by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
The gallery is dimly lit so the aged, sensitive oil paint does not fade.
"El Alma de Espa§a" features nearly 100 paintings and sculptures by Spanish painters from the late 16th century to the early 19th century. The show includes such masters as El Greco, Diego Vel†squez, Francisco Goya and Jose de Ribera.
Curator Ellen Landis said she went all over in search of specific pieces for the show.
"This exhibit was originated for the Albuquerque Museum," Landis said. "As soon as it's done, they have to go back to their institutions."
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The show goes with the city's tricentennial celebration.
Marcus Burke was part of a discussion and panel at the opening and is an expert on Spanish art.
"You're in a part of the United States that is part of a living Spanish tradition," Burke said. "That's why your churches and the art museum of the exhibition are going to have a wonderful resonance, a wonderful harmony with each other."
Contemporary art is far removed from the religious imagery of European paintings three centuries ago, he said. There was a tendency in Spain for upper-class patrons to hire non-Spanish artists. But he said Spanish artists often worked for the church and the middle class, which wanted devotional paintings. He said this is why their art falls into certain repetitive themes, depicting scenes from the Bible.
"All of this to (a) modern secular world makes Spanish art very hard to understand," Burke said. "The Spanish have no separation of church and state. They were constantly aware of all religious aspects."
Portraits and still-lifes are also in the exhibit. Spanish art uses a restrained palette, especially in portraiture. Still-life subjects tend to be painted with the brightest colors, looking especially theatrical against deep black untextured backgrounds that skew their placement in a real-world setting.
"I think what gives Spanish art a lot of its energy is that it doesn't fit pre conceived notions," Burke said. "Things that aren't normally put together are put together in Spanish art, and that's what I think makes it pop."
He said this is a world-class exhibit.
The Prado Museum lent some of the works for this show, as well as the institute of San Fernando in Madrid. Private donors and other museums also helped.
The show ends on July 31, and the paintings return on August 1.
"This exhibit could be in Madrid, Paris, London or New York, and people would be falling down and saying how wonderful it is," he said. "You guys are just really lucky it hit here."
He said any student with an interest in art, no matter how radical their art may be, should come to the museum with a notebook and see what these artists did.
"I know how important the arts and education are here," he said. "This is not an opportunity that comes around again."
El Alma de Espa§a
Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain Road
Tuesdays through Sundays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
$9 adults, $7 for seniors
plus a $5 surcharge for exhibition
243-7255
