The art of painting light at the Thyssen

The new exhibition at the Malaga gallery consists of works by Catalan painters and sculptors of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The title of an artwork, Children in the Light of a Street Lamp, conjures up a picture in our imagination of what the exhibition will consist of before we have even stepped over the threshold into the Museo Thyssen. The new temporary exhibition will take the viewer on a journey, discovering the techniques of some of the greatest Spanish artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Luis Graner, the artist responsible for Children in the Light of a Street Lamp, begins a unique story with his painting, the light flowing from the left-hand side of the picture, illuminating the two little girls. This story continues throughout the exhibition, Pintar la Luz.

Other Catalan masters such as Mariano Fortuny, Eliseo Meifrèn, Antoni Tàpies and Santiago Rusiñol, take their brushes or chisels to delve into the light and shadow of different genres: female figures, male figures, landscapes, nudes, floral and abstract paintings. 

All of the paintings show the gradual move towards the modernism and avant-garde influences that were seeping into Spain from Europe at the time.

The exhibition is open until 17 October, Tuesday to Sunday from 10am until 8pm. Entrance is 10 euros.

Published by Claudi San Martin in Sur in English