La Pedrera presents 'Antonio López', the artist's first retrospective monographic exhibition

The Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera presents the first retrospective exhibition of Antonio López in Barcelona, which will make it possible to rediscover the work of the greatest representative of the Spanish realist movement of the second half of the 20th century.

The Antonio López exhibition brings together in La Pedrera, from September 22, 2023 until January 14, 2024, a careful selection of around eighty works—between painting, sculpture and drawing—and allows you to trace a route through the his artistic career over seven decades of work, from the first works of his youth, from the fifties, to the most recent production. Structured in thematic blocks, the exhibition highlights that certain motifs on which the artist reflects persist and, at the same time, evolve throughout his career: domestic interiors, landscapes and urban views—mainly of Madrid—, still lifes or the human figure. A careful selection of works from different public and private collections, such as the Fundació Sorigué, in Lleida; the Juan March Foundation of Palma de Mallorca; the ICO Foundation and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, in Madrid; the Hamburger Kunsthalle; the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others.

Antonio López is the first retrospective monographic exhibition to be presented in Barcelona, and allows you to trace the artistic trajectory of Antonio López over seven decades of work, from the first works of his youth, in the fifties, to the his most recent production. The exhibition is organized by the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation, in collaboration with the Drents Museum, in Assen (Netherlands).

Structured in thematic blocks, the exhibition highlights how certain motifs on which the artist reflects persist and, at the same time, evolve throughout his career: domestic interiors, landscapes and urban views -mainly of Madrid-, the still lifes or the human figure.

Antonio López (Tomelloso, Ciudad Real, 1936) is undoubtedly the representative par excellence of the Spanish realist movement of the second half of the 20th century. Slow, deliberate and meticulous production, his work does not allow for simplifications. During the 1950s , Antonio López explored different plastic languages in search of his own and resorted to symbolic and surreal elements to reinforce the narrative component of his works, but always working from figuration. He begins by painting portraits, such as Cuatro mujeres (1957) - present in this exhibition - and still lifes, such as Cabeza griega y vestido azul (1958). At the end of the decade he began to make reliefs and incorporated sculpture into his creations, a discipline he never abandoned.

In the sixties , based on the new attitude of not adding anything to reality, he paints his first landscape: Madrid (1960). During these years he becomes aware that his path is reality without artifices. Since the mid-sixties he paints and sculpts what interests him without making use of any stylistic resources, so that his gaze is the only filter and technical mastery is his instrument. At the end of the decade, using this new approach, he directly draws and paints intimate spaces in his home and studio, and devotes special attention to light and the effects it generates on objects. At this time, his work, which became part of collectives in Germany, England and the United States, achieved international recognition.

The city of Madrid occupies a privileged place in the work of Antonio López during the seventies . Several important views of the city begin at this time. He also explores the landscape through the windows and works at different times of the day to study the light. The drawing also takes on a special relevance in the artist's production.

During the decade of the eighties the plant theme becomes the main theme of Antonio López's painting and drawing, mainly with drawings of fruits and vegetables, but also with flowers painted in oil. He continues to paint landscapes, both of Madrid and of his town, Tomelloso. In 1985 he received the Prince of Asturias Arts Award.

The nineties were particularly fruitful for Antonio López. Filmmaker Víctor Erice made the film El sol del membrillo, which portrays and describes the artist's creative process. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía presents the first major retrospective of the painter and sculptor, who at this moment begins what will be his largest painting: Madrid from the Vallecas fire tower (1990-2006).

With the arrival of the 21st century , Antonio López received all kinds of recognition, such as the Velázquez Award for Fine Arts awarded by the Ministry of Culture. The artist continues to work with all the plastic languages he has used throughout his career: painting, sculpture, drawing and engraving. He focuses on the themes that characterize him and gives great importance to the human figure, but now focusing on the nude. In addition, it resumes the views of Madrid's Gran Vía, adding new points of view in order to complete the route of this street. Flowers remain one of his favorite subjects, especially roses, which he paints from the moment they bloom until they decay.