Atocha
Antonio López García
(Spanish, born in 1936)
1964
Medium/TechniqueOil on wood
Dimensions37 x 41 in. (40 1/4 x 45 1/4 x 2 3/4 in. overall)
Credit LineMelvin Blake and Frank Purnell Collection
Accession number2003.42
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
The train station at Atocha holds a special place in Antonio López García's memory; it is through this very station that he first entered Madrid as a teenager, on his way to prepare for the entrance exams at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Indeed, López García's depiction of this transitional space, with its nearly impressionistic, cold atmosphere, evokes a sense of nostalgia. But this scene vacillates between memory and surreal dream, as a man and woman copulate on the cold floor, disrupting-even opposing-the quiet streets of Atocha in the early morning.
ProvenanceThe artist; with Staempfli Gallery, New York; about 1965, purchased by Melvin N. Blake (b. 1927 - d. 1999) and Frank M. Purnell (b. 1930 - d. 1994), New York; gift of the estate of Melvin Blake to MFA, Boston, January 22, 2003Copyright© 2022 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Madrid
