Antonio Lopez, the great painter of Madrid
It's not uncommon to see him with his easel in a square in the Spanish capital, painting the cityscape in detail. Known for his perfectionism, 89-year-old Antonio López is also well-placed to talk about his city and its evolution over the years. “El País Semanal” met this Madrid figure in his studio.
For 89-year-old Antonio López, balconies were a revelation of initiation. And standing on the sidewalks was a declaration of intent. It was behind the open windows of his childhood home in Tomelloso [just under 200 kilometers south of Madrid] that he realized early on that the outdoors interested him more than his inner torments, and that he could paint it from a certain height.
He first tried it in his hometown, with a first painting of the Carboneros Street – a canvas that he keeps in his collection and will never part with – “If possible…” He continued in this vein when he came to study fine arts in Madrid, where he stayed in a guesthouse that directly overlooked Plaza Isabel II [in the center of the capital].
He immediately felt the urge to take to the streets with his easel and brushes. To tread the asphalt, observe from the sidewalk, let himself be permeated by the air, even if it was polluted, and by the miraculous enigmas of a light as elusive as it was changing. “I was lucky enough to detect from a young age the themes that would guide my work as an artist,” he confides.
Today, he is incontestably the painter of the capital, its chronicler in
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