Until now, Isabel Quintanilla had not received the recognition she deserves as one of the great figures of Spanish painting of the second half of the 20th century. Since the 1970s, his work was frequently exhibited in various cities in Germany and was acquired by museums and collectors in that country, which has prevented him from becoming better known in Spain. Half of this exhibition, which is reflected in this catalogue, is that recovered production. The curator and author, Leticia de Cos, has built an artistic and at the same time vital itinerary through Quintanilla’s pictorial genres and themes. Her still lifes combine classic workmanship with very contemporary objects, such as the Duralex glass, the telephone or the sewing machine (with which the artist’s mother raised the family) that evoke a time and a country. Quintanilla is a painter of lived reality and a large part of her work deals with the spaces she inhabited: the bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, the sewing corner and the artist’s studio. Although almost always empty of figures, these interiors contain the presence of the characters in her life, her husband and her son. Everything exudes intimacy: the windows that receive light from outside and the doors that take us deeper inside. An interlude along the way is dedicated to Isabel Quintanilla’s companions and friends; the three painters who were part of the Madrid realist group: Esperanza Parada, Amalia Avia and María Moreno. Then we emerged into the landscape and the city, the country horizon and urban views. And the tour concludes with those intermediate spaces, the patios and gardens, which are so constant and so characteristic of the Madrid painter. One of the most valuable contributions of the curator’s essay in the catalog is Quintanilla’s inscription in the history of European painting. From the Pompeian frescoes to the courtyards of Pieter de Hooch and the interiors of Samuel van Hoogstraten, the mysterious rooms of Vilhelm Hammershøi or the landscapes of Aureliano de Beruete.

Format: Hardback
Size: 22 x 30 cm
Extent: 200 pp
Publication Date: 12 February 2024
200 páginas
Publisher: Thyssen
ISBN: 978-8417173838