Antonio López: Master of Spanish realism

Portraits, still lifes and cityscapes along with his famous baby head sculptures showcase Antonio López’s 70-year career in his first retrospective in the Netherlands.

The Drents Museum presents the exhibition Antonio López: Master of Spanish Realism, with the presence of the artist at the opening. Portraits, still lifes, sculptures, and urban landscapes from Madrid will be showcased in Assen to highlight the seventy-year career of the Spanish realism master, Lopez. The Drents Museum, in collaboration with the Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera in Barcelona, presents Lopez’s first retrospective in the Netherlands. The Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera previously hosted a significant exhibition of the artist at Antoni Gaudi’s Casa Milà in September 2023.

Antonio López (born 1936) is renowned for his meticulous working method. One of his iconic urban landscapes, the painting “Madrid from the Vallecas Fire Tower,” currently exhibited at the Drents Museum, required sixteen years to finish. In his creative process, he consistently revisits the same time and place to thoroughly study the light, color, and shape of objects. Other outstanding pieces in the exhibition are Het diner ( 1971-1980), Gran Via, 1 August, 7:30 (2009-2015) or the two large sculptures of babies’ heads, based on his granddaughter Carmen.

Antonio López had solo exhibitions at the Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid), the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid) in 1993, 2008, and 2011. In 2014, he finished a large painting of the Spanish royal family that he started in 1994. His work is included in museum collections around the world, such as the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The artist also became internationally known for the film El sol del membrillo. Directed by Victor Erice in 1992 and awarded several prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the film shows López for months as he paints a quince tree in his backyard.

The exhibition is part of a series of exhibitions on international realism, including The American Dream on American Realism (2017), Sprezzatura on Italian Realism (2019), and Viva La Frida!: Life and Art of Frida Kahlo (2021). It is accompanied by an illustrated publication with contributions by both Dutch and Spanish authors.