La Fundación Juan March es experta en explorar los
recovecos de la Historia del Arte. Desde que la visito asiduamente, he podido
ver muestras dedicadas a periodos desdeñados, artistas apenas conocidos en
nuestro país y facetas poco exploradas de otros más célebres: el Friedrich
dibujante, Asher B. Durand, la Latinoamérica geométrica, arte conceptual ruso…
La mirada de la Fundación se dirige ahora hacia un país sorprendentemente
desconocido: el Reino Unido.
Digo
desconocido porque, aunque el aficionado al arte está perfectamente
familiarizado con las grandes figuras del arte británico contemporáneo, lo
cierto es que todo lo anterior al siglo XIX es poco menos que un misterio para
la gran mayoría del público español. La presente exposición pretende poner
solución a ello abarcando, tal y como reza su ambicioso título, desde la
primera mitad del siglo XVI (Holbein) hasta la segunda del XX (Hockney). A
pesar del amplio arco cronológico, el espectador saldrá de la muestra con una
firme idea de la evolución del arte producido en las islas.
No debe extrañarnos
encontrar en la primera parte de la exposición varios artistas procedentes del
continente, empezando por el propio Holbein el Joven. El suyo no fue un caso
excepcional, ya que durante mucho tiempo Gran Bretaña se nutrió del talento de
artistas extranjeros ante la falta de una verdadera escuela local. 1768 es, por
tanto, una fecha clave: es el año de la fundación de la Royal Academy of Arts,
que marca simbólicamente el momento en que el arte británico empieza a desprenderse
de su estatus provinciano. A partir del siglo XVIII, los artistas serán capaces
de dar respuestas propias a las distintas corrientes europeas. Pienso que quizá
el primer británico en tener un impacto de verdadero calado fuera de Gran
Bretaña fue William Hogarth, una de cuyas célebres series puede verse aquí.
Pero si por
algo esta exposición se titula La isla
del tesoro –en alusión a otro célebre británico, R. L. Stevenson– es por lo
que no conocemos. Las diferencias
culturales y sociales entre España y Gran Bretaña, además de la abierta
hostilidad política que ha enfrentado a ambos a lo largo de la historia, son
razones para entender el porqué del desconocimiento que se tiene aquí del arte
británico anterior a la era contemporánea. La primera e importante divergencia
que se me ocurre es la religión. En la primera sala de esta exposición el
espectador encuentra una serie de iconos religiosos destrozados, evidencia palpable de
la ira iconoclasta tras la ruptura de relaciones entre Inglaterra y la Iglesia
de Roma. Claves también fueron las guerras civiles del siglo XVII que
desembocaron en el establecimiento de una monarquía parlamentaria que puso fin
al poder absoluto del rey. La cultura liberal derivada de ello explica en buena
medida la gran tradición de sátira social y política surgida en Gran Bretaña, de
la que el mencionado Hogarth es el mejor exponente. Estos y otros
acontecimientos históricos están bien representados a lo largo de toda la
exposición.
Hacia el
final de la exposición comprobamos cómo la relevancia del arte británico llega
a su cima en el siglo XX, con figuras tan conocidas como Bacon, Moore o Freud. Pero,
además del arte, hubo otros terrenos culturales del siglo pasado para los que
Gran Bretaña fue, y sigue siendo, un referente. Uno de ellos es la música pop,
por lo que considero un gran acierto que los comisarios hayan incluido en la
última sala la portada del Sgt. Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band de los
Beatles, obra de Peter Blake. Aunque la exposición aparentemente acabe aquí, la muestra
se completa en la planta baja con la enorme obra de Tony Cragg, Gran Bretaña vista desde el Norte, una
mirada crítica al Reino Unido de la era Thatcher.
La isla del tesoro. Arte británico de Holbein a
Hockney. Fundación Juan March. Castelló, 77. Madrid. Hasta el 20 de enero de 2013.
.jpg) |
| William Hogarth, 3ª escena de la serie La carrera de la prostituta, 1732-33 |
British treasure hunt
The
Fundación Juan March is renowned for exploring the hidden corners of Art
History. Since I started visiting it, I’ve been able to see exhibitions
dedicated to forgotten periods, hardly-known artists and unexplored aspects of
more celebrated ones: Friedrich’s drawings, Asher B. Durand, Latin American
geometric abstraction, Russian conceptual art... The Fundación now looks
towards a surprisingly unknown country: the United Kingdom.
I say unknown because, although art aficionados are perfectly familiar with the big names in British modern and contemporary art, the truth is that everything prior to the 19th century is a near mystery for the majority of the Spanish public. The current exhibition strives to put a solution to this by, as its ambitious title states, going from the first half of the 16th century (Holbein) to the second half of the 1900’s. Despite being such a long period, the visitor will leave the exhibition with a clear idea of the evolution of art in Britain.
We mustn’t be surprised to find various continental artists throughout the first part of the exhibition, beginning with Holbein himself. His case was not exceptional, since Britain constantly resorted to the talent of foreign artists as it lacked a real local school of its own. That’s why 1768 is a key date: it’s the year the Royal Academy of Arts was founded, with which British art began to abandon its provincial status. From the 18th century onwards, British artists were capable of giving a personal response to the various European trends. I think that possibly the first British artist to make a real impact outside Britain was William Hogarth, one of whose celebrated series can be seen here.
But if this exhibition is called Treasure Island –an allusion to another famous Brit, R. L. Stevenson– it’s for the parts of British art history we don’t know. The cultural and social differences between Spain and Britain, apart from open historical hostilities, are important if we want to understand why pre-Modern British art is hardly known over here. The first important difference I can think of is religion: in the first room of this exhibition we find a series of semi-destroyed religious sculptures that are proof of the iconoclastic rage aroused after England’s relations with the Church of Rome were broken. The civil wars of the 17th century, which put an end to the king’s absolute power, are another key moment. The liberal culture that derived from this explains the birth of a very British tradition of social and political satire, of which the mentioned Hogarth is a prominent figure. These and other historical events are present throughout the exhibition.
Towards the end of the show, we see how British art’s self-confidence and relevance reaches its peak in the 20th century with figures such as Bacon, Moore or Freud. Apart from art, though, there are other cultural fields for which Britain was, and still is, a key reference. One of these is pop music, and I think the curators have done very well in including the sleeve for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, created by Peter Blake. Although the exhibition appears to end here, the show is completed on the bottom floor with the enormous Britain seen from the North by Tony Cragg, a critical comment on Thatcher-era Britain.
Treasure Island: British Art from Holbein to Hockney. Fundación Juan March. Castelló, 77. Madrid. Until 20th January 2013.
I say unknown because, although art aficionados are perfectly familiar with the big names in British modern and contemporary art, the truth is that everything prior to the 19th century is a near mystery for the majority of the Spanish public. The current exhibition strives to put a solution to this by, as its ambitious title states, going from the first half of the 16th century (Holbein) to the second half of the 1900’s. Despite being such a long period, the visitor will leave the exhibition with a clear idea of the evolution of art in Britain.
We mustn’t be surprised to find various continental artists throughout the first part of the exhibition, beginning with Holbein himself. His case was not exceptional, since Britain constantly resorted to the talent of foreign artists as it lacked a real local school of its own. That’s why 1768 is a key date: it’s the year the Royal Academy of Arts was founded, with which British art began to abandon its provincial status. From the 18th century onwards, British artists were capable of giving a personal response to the various European trends. I think that possibly the first British artist to make a real impact outside Britain was William Hogarth, one of whose celebrated series can be seen here.
But if this exhibition is called Treasure Island –an allusion to another famous Brit, R. L. Stevenson– it’s for the parts of British art history we don’t know. The cultural and social differences between Spain and Britain, apart from open historical hostilities, are important if we want to understand why pre-Modern British art is hardly known over here. The first important difference I can think of is religion: in the first room of this exhibition we find a series of semi-destroyed religious sculptures that are proof of the iconoclastic rage aroused after England’s relations with the Church of Rome were broken. The civil wars of the 17th century, which put an end to the king’s absolute power, are another key moment. The liberal culture that derived from this explains the birth of a very British tradition of social and political satire, of which the mentioned Hogarth is a prominent figure. These and other historical events are present throughout the exhibition.
Towards the end of the show, we see how British art’s self-confidence and relevance reaches its peak in the 20th century with figures such as Bacon, Moore or Freud. Apart from art, though, there are other cultural fields for which Britain was, and still is, a key reference. One of these is pop music, and I think the curators have done very well in including the sleeve for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, created by Peter Blake. Although the exhibition appears to end here, the show is completed on the bottom floor with the enormous Britain seen from the North by Tony Cragg, a critical comment on Thatcher-era Britain.
Treasure Island: British Art from Holbein to Hockney. Fundación Juan March. Castelló, 77. Madrid. Until 20th January 2013.
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