Antonio López, one of the great names of Spanish contemporary art, is about to complete a sculpture of Francisco de Goya to natural size that will be installed at street level next to the painter’s home house in Fuendetodos (Zaragoza).
As reported Efethe piece, a commission from the town hall, will be the inaugural image for those who approach the emblematic place, coinciding with the Goyescas celebrations that are celebrated in September.
At 89, the artist, often and affable, has dedicated a day of work and reflection in the Foundry Art 6 of Arganda del Rey (Madrid), where the last touch -ups are giving the figure.
There, between tools, thorough corrections and decisions shared with his usual collaborator, the sculptor Andrés García IbáñezLópez sits at the foot of the imposing sculpture, refining details with artisanal precision.
The work, which represents Goya With about 50 years, it is based on a doubly preparatory design: a first 3D printing version of focused, with the head already detailed, and a second, more robust, made in polyurethane.
This model will be used to create the wax mold prior to the final smelting in bronze. With about 190 centimeters high, the Goya of Antonio López It appears dressed as a courtesan of the late eighteenth century, with a downside and carry determined. However, not everything convinces the artist.
“The head is not well placed,” says López, doubting whether it is too high or advanced. To adjust the gesture of the Aragonese painter, López and García Ibáñez carefully remove their heads and comply with it on a plasticine base, which allows them to test different angles until they find the one that transmits the attitude sought.
-«It is not the old Goya, nor the Young Goyais the Goya and an artist who has done an important job, who steps strongly, but is not pedantic, because he is intelligent. A Goya who has already happened important things, which is already deaf. A Goya about 50 years, ”describes the author as he lags with the edge of the character’s Levite.
To Antonio Lópezthe humility of the great Spanish creators has been a defining feature: «The great Spanish artists were none pedantic, because Spain would not have allowed it. That could be the French, but not the Spaniards. Goya was an intelligent man who did a job for society, as any other worker could do.
The figure has been modeled taking the actor and singer as bodily reference Augusto Gonzálezknown for playing Goya during the cultural days of Fuendetodos. He himself went to the workshop, characterized as the painter, to review the sculpture and show his thanks to the teacher and his collaborator.
The mayor of Fuendetodos was also present, Enrique Salueñamain driver of cultural activities around Goya, which have positioned the small Zaragozano town on the cultural map, attracting some 20,000 annual visitors despite having just 140 registered inhabitants and a real population of about 70 neighbors.
One of the debates of the day was the exact location of the sculpture. López insisted that Goya should be at the ground level, without a visible base: «The place where it will be is very familiar and raise it to a base does not correspond to it: it has to be on the ground. He is in his town, at home, how are you going to put a base? The final solution will be a discreet base that guarantees stability without disregarding the environment.
According to the plans, the sculpture will be completed within two months and will remain in Fuendentodos During the summer, as López himself said: “Summer will pass in Fuendetodos, where it corresponds.”
In addition, a second complementary piece is expected in front of the house-museum: a figure of Ignacio Zuloagathe Basque painter who, admirer of Goya, was key in the acquisition and conservation of the Aragonese artist’s native property along with other intellectuals and patrons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
