Toya Viudes de Velasco He had been trying to trace his great-aunt’s footprints for some time after learning about her artistic resume. The canvases that covered the rooms of the family home were part of the historical chronology of Spanish art, but they did not find a common path to rescue the forgotten figure of the painter. Since then, her energy has transformed into an irrepressible impetus to recover her work. Rosario de Velasco (Madrid, 1904-Barcelona, 1991) is the absolute protagonist of the new exhibition of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.
The art gallery once again puts the spotlight on a Madrid artist after the success of the exhibition dedicated to the painting of Isabel Quintanilla. Although, on this occasion, magic takes over the room, dressed in about thirty of her works. Rosario de Velasco’s great-niece posted a tweet asking for information about the canvases wrapped throughout Spain, a cry of hope with which she sought to pay tribute to her particular artistic vision. “I set out to get Rosario back, it has been a half-life project”Toya Viudes expressed in the press conference in which she was present Infobae Spain.
From social networks to Thyssen. In record time, Widows and Miguel Lusarretaalso curator of the exhibition, have created a portrait of the most notable period of Rosario’s painting (framed between 1920 and 1940) with the aim of rescuing one of the most notable artists of the first half of the 20th century. “No institution had dared to undertake this exhibition due to the difficulty it entailed,” Lusarreta admitted. “The big problem we had with the works is that they are old auctions,” said her great-niece.
Collecting the works of Rosario de Velasco was an obstacle course, since the only information that Viudes and Lusarreta had in their hands were “landline telephone numbers that no one takes anymore and the postal addresses of the houses that, in the best of cases, had not been thrown away, but that no longer had no one living there”. Both curators began by drawing the map from the paintings that belonged to the family collection. one of them was Laundresses (1934), a canvas that the author painted for the wedding of her brother, Dr. Luis de Velasco.
The women’s movement represented in this painting speaks of the influences of the artist, considered as a bridge between modernity and Renaissance tradition that I admired so much. Thus, his works are ascribed to the so-called “return to order” that was imposed in Spain as a response to the avant-garde. The added value of the exhibition, which It can be visited in the art gallery until next September 15is that it goes beyond the paintings exhibited in the various museums in the country (for example, Adam and Eve, from 1932, which is part of the collection of the Reina Sofía Museum). The exhibition is a revival of the figure of Rosario de Velasco. A contractual signature to give a second life to her painting. A romantic treatise of recognition.
“From the first moment we had a great reception,” says Toya Viudes about the campaign to recover her great-aunt’s art. Through dozens of emails and responses on social networks, the painter’s great-niece has been able to locate more than 300 canvases. “Rosario painted her life and she was an artist like the top of a pine tree, our idea is to continue showing it. In this exhibition we wanted to show thirty works, but we want to show many more”, she concluded.
Rosario de Velasco’s figuration includes, in her passion for classical compositions, a certain fervor for the elements that were changing the paradigm of art, among them, the figure of Picasso. His painting was born together with the new realisms that emerged after the First World War: a renewed interest in classicism and the Italian Quattrocento which place it at the front line of plastic renewal in Spain.
Giotto, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca. Mantegna, Dürer, Velázquez, Goya, De Chirico or Braque. An alignment of influences he grew up with in a guild in which he lived since he was 15 years old. Some of the author’s works are ascribed to this renewed Renaissance character (Things, Gypsies either Portrait of doctor Luis de Velasco) while others, such as The killing of the innocent (at first considered as a canvas made by Ricardo Verde, by the RV signature that was on the frame), they speak of a expressionist movement that dominates the forms of his painting.
Born into a very traditional and religious family, Rosario de Velasco was a Falangist militant who participated in the Women’s Section before the Spanish Civil War. However, Toya Viudes de Velasco has stressed that her great-aunt “did not support at all” the Franco regime. “When Franco comes to power, she is left in limbo. She is not one of those who has gone into exile, nor does he support that regime at all. She stays in no man’s land. “He welcomes those who come from abroad, who have had to go into exile, with great work,” he explained this Monday at the Thyssen.
Guillermo Solanaartistic director of the Thyssen Museum, has not only spoken of the artistic quality of Rosario’s work, he has also paid tribute to the art gallery restoration team which has made it possible for the exhibition to have standard quality standards. “Many of his works were not in an adequate state and this is where they intervene”, he indicated in the press conference this Monday. Their work “has been decisive”, since they are the ones who have dedicated themselves to “cleaning, restoring and participating in the quality assessment” of the canvases that Viudes and Lusarreta were locating in different areas of the country.
“It has added more excitement to the process to be able to have the works in the workshop and see how they appeared from the accumulated dirt,” added Solana, who considers that the Thyssen technicians are responsible “for the miracle of the reappearance of Rosario de Velasco“, because not only have they found the artist, they have also “they have given him back his light”.
