A book a day: Óscar Martínez: The painted echo

Original language: castellano

Year of publication: 2023

Valuation: Highly recommended

Sometimes books about art have some tics that scare away readers who are not previously interested in that world. They oscillate between the manual that covers eras, trends and isms, with few exceptions, boring and too abstract, the informative text whose intention is too noticeable, and the scholarly volume of those who seek above all to show off by resorting to ideas and concepts with the objective that the smallest number of readers understands it. Academicism, trivialization and elitism seem to compete to leave art out of focus in the world of books.

As in so many other things, the optimal point, the right mix, is not easy to achieve. In other cultures there is a whole tradition of experts dedicated to, and trained to, explain subjects without losing rigor but ensuring that the reader does not disconnect or get bored. In Spain this seems less common, especially in matters of art, but fortunately we find some exceptions.

Óscar Martínez, art historian and professor, enters this field along the path of what can be called metapainting, searching for images within images, maps, paintings, tapestries, photographs or mirrors that are embedded in canvases from all periods. , sometimes half hidden, others completely assuming the role of what we see. A great variety of motifs and objects give rise to reflection, study or simple digression: the fable of Arachne that fills the background of the Velázquez known as
The spinnersthe clothing of the characters in The burial of the Lord of Orgazthe Japonism that leaves its mark on some of Van Gogh’s paintings, or the mirrors, of course, perhaps the most striking of the metapictorial elements, always loaded with meanings, the one that reflects the kings in the meninasthe convex of Parmigianino or that of the broken perspective of the Folies Bergère by Manet.

The author uses a format similar to that of, for example, Nuccio Ordine, that is, he takes a painting as a starting point (there are about twenty-something in total) and dedicates a few pages to it, sometimes starting from the image itself or the artist, to extend to issues that may be directly related to one or the other, or may develop into other fields. Sometimes, logically, they are topics related to art (the use of trompe l’oeil, the very interesting relationship between cubism and hyperrealism, or the radicality of suprematism), but in many others they are collateral issues on which the dissertation lets flow: the impact of the appearance of photography, the importance of illustrated magazines in the first decades of the 20th century, the arrival of paper to Europe from the Far East, or the symbolism of flags.

The multiplicity of themes, together with a pleasant and rigorous treatment, makes reading a real pleasure, delving into what is properly pictorial enough to seduce those most interested and capturing, I understand, others by probing into diverse terrains. If anything, for trying to tickle him a little, one could blame the author for some temptation to take center stage, and specific moments in which the imagination around a painting goes a little too far. But I already say that they are very minor defects in a very balanced set from all points of view.

At first glance, it is a little surprising how little graphic importance is given to the canvases that head each chapter, limiting themselves to very small black and white reproductions. It is surprising, I say, because they are supposed to have a starring role but, when you think about it, perhaps it is not so contradictory: the painting is really nothing more than an excuse, a starting point to develop the reflections that accompany it, which is what that is really interesting for it to reach the reader. Because at the end of the day we can see all these works with the dimensions we want and in full color just by doing a search on the internet. Which is surely what we have all done.

PS: Another possibility would be to take a look at this interview about the book. But in my opinion it is much more interesting to read it.