Nº 2276 – May 16 to 22, 2024
The opportunity to see a work from a private collection in a public museum is always a privilege, and it is even more so if the painting belongs to the masterful hand of Juan Manuel Blanes. The bet is doubled if it is one of his gauchos and becomes exponential if we add that since the 19th century it belonged to the family collection of an English nobleman and his return to Uruguay occurs after being the protagonist of an international auction with a record. sales for the painter.
Yes, I know, it seems like the plot of a novel or the script of a movie, however, all these circumstances come together to make a visit to this gaucho from Blanes at the National Museum of Visual Arts (MNAV) an unmissable and unforgettable event. .
The story began in February of last year, when a Uruguayan collector acquired Gaucho en el campo at an auction in West Sussex (England) for 1.15 million pounds (US$ 1.38 million) and broke Blanes’ last record. which since 2014 has remained at US$905,000. The piece arrived in the country in June of last year and in a generous gesture by its new owner it was presented to society this summer at the MACA (Atchugarry Museum of Contemporary Art) in Punta del Este. Now it does the same in our MNAV until Sunday, May 26.
It is an exceptional work that captures attention as soon as you enter the museum. Located in the small entrance room and with a successful assembly that highlights it, the lights of this gaucho shine from a vermilion red wall and, although it is protected by a glass box, the reflections and the sobriety of its workmanship do not detract from contemplation. . Added to this is another happy decision: the invited gaucho is surrounded by a dozen gauchos from the museum’s collection who act as an honor guard and also provide thematic context. The resource works, and although the little hosts are old acquaintances – they spent years in one of the rooms on the first floor -, they are enjoyed with renewed interest, except for one, who from the left wall and also being the first in line does not It is at the height of the whole and is out of place due to its poor workmanship and its notorious repaintings.
Now, when we talk about the gauchos of Blanes, we are talking about a saga that is one of the milestones in the history of national art, a set of small and medium-sized works—with two or three exceptions—that Blanes painted in his majority during his second stay in Italy, between the late 1870s and the 1880s. The series is a turning point, because Blanes moves away from the grandeur of his historical work and constructs with romantic emphasis an idealized and archetypal testimony of the rebellious and indomitable character of our field. With an exceptional workmanship of refined luminous skies, mounted on horseback or casually reclining on a palenque, the gauchos give off that air of civility that is as far from reality as it is masterfully credible.
Despite its great iconographic variety, the series has uniform characteristics and it is that homogeneity that makes this gaucho an exception, due to its dimensions—it measures 112 cm by 128 cm—and the superb and mysterious treatment of light. The image presents a gaucho in the central axis of the surface in the middle of an extensive and bucolic meadow. He rides a horse, turning in the saddle and raising one arm to point to something beyond our vision. On the low horizon we see two horses in the background, but the entire image focuses on the leading resource of light. A bright, golden light that illuminates the landscape, giving it monumentality and a feeling of timelessness that does not allow us to discern whether it is sunset or the first lights of the morning.
Without a doubt, it is one of Blanes’ most powerful works and perhaps that is why it makes me reflect on how hard his path was, that long route that allowed him to reach these unique levels of plastic quality. Because we take Blanes for granted and yet, despite his undeniable natural talent, his life was pure determination, discipline and a great dose of audacity. A tenacity and courage that is not always valued as it should; Let’s think that he was born in 1830—almost with constitutional Uruguay—, in a land lacking indigenous and Hispanic artistic tradition. There was nothing here, no art collections, no museums, no schools, no artists—except for the traveling painters and the Basque Besnes and Irigoyen. He was a Uruguayan orphan of images, and this makes his work and his successful international career even more moving, which offered our country the no small distinction of having one of the greatest artists on the continent.
Today, a gaucho from Blanes returns home and it is a privilege to see him. Don’t hesitate, come to the museum, I assure you that it will not disappoint you.
