The Spanish Classics in Their Connection with the General Evolution of Art

Author(s): Hans Tietze

Source: Parnassus, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Feb., 1932), pp. 6-8
Published by: College Art Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/770590
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 S6*
PARNASSUS

THE SPANISH CLASSICS IN THEIR CONNECTION WITH

THE GENERAL EVOLUTION OF ART

By HANS TIETZE

Vienna

it finds at once its place in the tissue of his

aesthetic sympathies and antipathies. In

Spanish art these innumerable connections

are lacking, it is strange but not exotic, dif-

B,:::':X~?
ferent from ours but nevertheless sufficiently

:~
related to be definitely felt as belonging to us.

:?::::?

There is much in Spanish art for which

we do not care on the ground that we con-

sider it too Spanish, but other aspects of it

~:ix':::::'::i-c ~:?-r:l:.~

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:::::? ::-;i~::Z~I:i?:- ~::~

may, at certain moments, impress us the

r:;

more profoundly just because they are Span-

ish, that is because they are newer and less

worn out than Italian art. The latter is a

constant element of our artistic existence,

Spanish art must always be re-discovered. In

;rr;

the course of a century four great Spanish

~::il"u

painters won recognition and reputation, not

in the chronological order of their lives but

in relationship to new currents in the gen-

eral evolution of modern art.

The first of the great Spanish artists of

the XVIIth century to arouse the interest of

competent collectors was Jusepe de Ribera.

They slightingly called him the little Spaniard

-lo Spagnoleto, and gave him a place with-

i
in this choice of masters who were not to

be missed in any of the important XVIIth

?;: or XVIIIth century collections. As a matter

:ir

::i~J
of fact he was more of an Italian than a

Spanish artist but compared to the other no

_;??:

less skillful representatives of chiaroscuro

.SL- ';?
-in

painting he possessed a certain exotic charm

that procured him a preference. Although

~*C. i
interest in him is heightened by certain anec-

rn-

dotic elements of his biography, he never

?:?:x~:;;

?.~.? achieved the eminence of the greatest masters

I?.::::

who, surpassing the limitations of nationality,

;::::~~i

\i?
belong to all of mankind.

T~r,?:

The first Spanish master who could boast

:?

:1' ::::41

~Bsi?
of such recognition was Murillo, who ob-

?:il

tained world-wide fame at the period when

the eclectic Bolognese school was at the

height of its reputation. Although he

MATER DOLOROSA
shares important qualities with the masters

of the Italian Baroque, Murillo is a genuine

By EL GRECO

and characteristic Spanish painter, so genu-

ine and characteristic, indeed, that the by-

In the collection of Dr. F. Schlayer, Munich

name of the most Spanish of Spanish paint-

ers was not refused him even when his

character. At numberless points it is at-

popularity diminished. The contrast be-

T HE peculiarity of Spanish art might be

determined by the same quality which tached to European art, of the general evo-
tween utmost idealism and drastic realism,

lution of which, however, it is no real

the philosopher of Spanish history, Angel
classically embodied in the immortal couple

branch; every influence suffered from abroad

Ganivet stated to be the very essence of his
of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in Cer-

country; he insisted on the peninsular char- is, on the peninsular, transformed into a
vantes' great work, a contrast frequently de-

totally different and strange form. Spanish

acter which at the same time isolates it from
clared to be the real essence of all Spanish

art never established such close relations with

the rest of Europe and unites it to it. Spain being, was reconciled by Murillo in a par-

is neither a continental neighbor nor an un- the art of other nations as, for example,
ticularly graceful manner; the painter of

Italian art which, through centuries, has

attackable outsider, by fostering her peculiar-
Holy Virgins and of dirty street-arabs served

grown into an integral part of general civiliza-

ity she becomes capable of influencing the apposite ideals through his instinct for na-

European world in a still more efficacious tion, so that every work of Italian art arouses
tional needs and his readiness to yield to

within every civilized man a corresponding

way. them. His life and his art are those of a

Spanish art possesses the same peninsular response and even if unexperienced personally
provincial. Stirred up by a journey to

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 * PARNASSUS -
7

Madrid when he was a young man, he knew In the third quarter of the XIXth cen-

no higher ambition than to be the first tury Velasquez was not only acclaimed the

painter of his native Seville. It must have painter among painters, le peintre le plus

afforded him intense satisfaction when the peintre, but also the most Spanish among

town council in ordering the famous "Vision Spaniards. His discovery at this time had

of St. Anthony" for the cathedral, failed to a double origin; modern impressionism recog-

~it?~

designate him by name but called him in- nized in him an admirable ancestor of its own

stead "the best painter of Seville." Murillo endeavors, and modern historical science

accepted the taste of his Andalusian country- greeted the artist whose works had been

men without reservations, and his attractive kept united in the place for which they

talent serves the social intentions of art. were intended and executed.

Murillo desired to procure for his ingenu-

In what sense are we to consider Velasquez

ously pious public all the religious ecstacy

the most characteristic personification of the

and enjoyment which it craved, for him art

artistic genius of Spain? He was a descen-

was not the autonomous accomplishment

dant of a noble Portugese family and through

of a special artistic tendency but the satis-

the whole of his life served Philip IV. His

faction of popular needs by refined methods.

natural aristocratic reserve was heightened by

He was a great local Andalusian painter;

the life at the most exclusive court in the

higher rank was. accorded him only through

world. Velasquez was a painter without a

an interpretation of art which was prac-

public; bound solely to the taste of his

tically on the same level with him and which

unique patron he had no need to consider

accepted the Andalusian. and the Spanish

the different tastes of varying sovereigns, as

elements in his art as characteristics of great

has been the case with other court painters.

talent. He was deposed by a new interpreta-

His art thus remained untouched by external

tion" which was opposed not only in its

currents; he painted for the royal family, but

artistic vision but also in its ethical founda-

as the latter became trained to accept his

tions.

authority, in working for his king, Velasquez

The impressionists reproached Murillo with

worked for himself.

PORTRAIT OF A GIRL

lack of ethical quality and with the facility

It is not a lack of regard for any public,

of a talent thriving on perpetual conces- By ZURBARAN

the intentional opposition to general taste

sions to a wide public; in a doctrine which

In the Detroit Institute of Arts

which is so frequently the creed of modern

considered painting an autonomous mode

artists, but simply the lack of realization of

of expression, independent of outside influ-

its existence that heightens in Velasquez the

content to register what he sees, but an-

ences and interests, Murillo's amiable per-

quality of reserve which has always been

alyses it with the acumen of a Saint Simon.

sonality could not but shrink, and his place

considered an essential qualification of the

Innate discretion, fostered by education has

as the foremost artist of his country was

Spanish character. This attitude found ad-

endowed Velasquez with the reputation of

given to Velasquez.

ditional support in the surroundings in

coldness.

which Velasquez lived in the newfounded

By his objectivity, comparable to that

capitol of a newly centralized state, at the

of Shakespeare, Velasquez differs from the

court of a dynasty obliged by its half-foreign

amiable subjectivity of Murillo, who with

origin to more intense adherence to Spanish

Andalusian ingenuity gave a pathetic mean-

doctrines. It was there that together with

ing to the common and an intimate sense to

the new notion of "Spain" a novel type

the sacred. The same polarity of the ideal-

of "Spaniard" was born, and both of these

istic and the realistic, which Murillo inter-

creations catered to the Castilian pride of

an abstract ideal. This new ideal found its preted in an indeterminate, somewhat theatri-

most intense realization in the pictures of cal manner, was reduced by Velasquez to the

the court-painter and by virtue of their super-

narrowest and therefore the most intense

iority these pictures have influenced our idea

basis. He converts the figures of his royal

of the typical Spaniard. Just as we used to

princesses with their queer dresses into a

see the "Greek" through antique art, the

symphony of delicate colors and in a hydro-

"Italian" through the Florentine or Venetian

cephalic idiot still finds a vestige of human-

painter of the XVth and XVIth century, the

ity, he paints religious or historical scenes

"German" through Diirer and Holbein, so

with a feeling for everyone's right to ex-

we see the "Spaniard" through Velasquez.

istance. This shows an ideal broadening

Nevertheless it is a question whether his

of Spanish character by virtue of creative

artistic qualities could be called Spanish in

power. As other aristocratic geniuses have

the sense that they existed in the art of the

done, Velasquez, too, transformed the quali-

nation before he lived. Upon searching for

ties in the possession of the nation and re-

antecedants to the severe realism which is a

turned them to the nation, beautified and in

IN '
feature of the style of Velasquez we find the

the light of a permanent possession: what

most profound relationship in Sanchez Coello,

Velasquez created by his art has grown to be

who before him had been portraitist of the

an integral part of Spanish existance. A

Court and like him was of Portugese origin;

genius grows out of his nation, but still

Coello, too, represented the persons he paint-

more into it.

ed with the exactitude of naturalistic ob-

-: 4 -

The pictures of Velasquez, before they

servation and we may add, with the bland

were reunited and shown to the public in

politeness of the courtier. The first of these

the Museum of the Prado, were inaccessible

qualities may be a trait introduced from

in the royal castles for which they had been

Portugal to Spain, the second by Velasquez

_r_21

executed; hence the master had no other imi-

was elevated to a higher rank by means of

tators than his immediate pupils and helpers.

the greater measure of his personality. He

DON BALTAZAR CARLOS

He therefore had very little influence on

does not observe his models with the in-

By VELASQUEZ

Spanish and European painting until the

exorable exactitude of a scientist, he is not
In the Museum of the Prado

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 S8
* PARNA5&U 1

hour of his discovery by the Impressionists. formal problems whereas the anti-naturalistic the greatest of his paintings, the Burial of

style of El Greco is subordinated to needs of Count Orgaz, executed in 1586.

His rise is closely connected with impres-

expression. El Greco aroused an enormous interest at

sionistic painting, whose influence began to

The lengthening of the proportions, the about the beginning of this century: he

lessen at the beginning of the XXth century,

seemed to have anticipated everything at

contortion of the figures, the want of space

causing a partial depreciation which was

which expressionism aimed, as the problems

and transparence are no longer mannerisms:

destined to serve as a foil for the exclusive

of the generation of impressionists found

the division of the colors heightens the mystic

glorification of El Greco.

parallels in Velasquez. Both of these paint-

splendor and the exaggerated gesticulation and

In Spain El Greco had never been totally

ers surprised the world because they seemed

pantomime, the tension and concentration of

forgotten; his Burial of Count Orgaz was

the solemn compositions. With the penetra- to have no artistic precedent. Therefore their

always considered one of the great master-

tion of a foreigner, El Greco recognized rule was less absolute than that of the mas-

pieces of Spanish genius. But it was to the why late Italian Renaissance art could not ters who are more rooted in tradition. The

satisfy Spanish needs; by a partial insistence reputation of El Greco has been lessened for
credit of the modern tendency in painting,

on spiritual values he re-established a balance those people who look upon the artist as an
in opposing modern expressionism to im-

which became the basis of the dawning Gol- interpreter rather than a painter, due to the
pressionism, that it comprehended the stature

den Age of Spanish painting. His import- fact that the portrayals of his day have lost
of the artist in his relation to Spanish spiri-

their poignancy.
tual life. ance for the great masters of subsequent

These three great figures, all part of the

times is caused less by the single threads lead-
Domenico Theocopuli, a Greek by birth

Golden Age of Spanish art, do not exhaust

ing from some of his works to theirs than
and an Italian by education, arrived in Spain

in the spiritual rebirth which they owe him: this fecund soil. A new painter emerges
at that period of exhaustion, about 1576,

whose art is closely related to the realistic

he showed a mode of concentration which be-
when the new political ambitions of the

tendences of today: Francisco Zurbaran, the

came the example for the following centuries.
country had not yet succeeded in changing

The astonishing fact made evident by a com- least fanciful of painters, according to Justi.
its spiritual life. What he brought to his

He was a contemporary of Velasquez and

parison of his pictures with the doctrines of
new home and whereby he enormously in-

the imperturbable positiveness of his vision

contemporary Spanish mystics is the degree to
fluenced its spiritual evolution was an ab-

which this stranger penetrated the unique and quiet realism of his statement represent
solute anti-naturalism and fervent spiritual-

quality of Spanish piety. He depicted the a fourth aspect of Spanish dualism. Zur-
ism of interpretation, which made him im-

miracle with realism and attached terrestial baran is less emphatic than Murillo, less
pregnate with new life the empty mannerism

to celestial life with composure. He per- concentrated than Velasquez and less ecstatic
imported from Italy. Like those painters

ceived the Spaniard, not as an individual but than El Greco. From the point of view of
whose pupil he had been,' El Greco was a

as a type, saw hidalgos and mysterious princes merit Zurbaran may not be ranked as highly
mannerist, not only because of the age in

of the church as representatives of a race as the three others, but by none of them is
which he worked but also because of his

whose endeavor was to subdue the world, the art spirit of Spain expressed more clearly
style which sometimes degenerated into negli-

secularly and ecclesiastically. He saw im- and convincingly and by no artist, from
gent repetitions of set types. Nevertheless

perial Toledo entering into its decline, be- our modern viewpoint at least, is the natural,
he differed enormously from the Italian trav-

cause of the transfer of the royal residence rustic and solid Spanish nation better repre-
eling artists who had decorated the newly

to Madrid, and he depicted its decadence in sented.

built Escorial. Their idealism loses itself in

Paintings by

EDWARD BIBERMAN

February 15bh to 27th

MONTROSS GALLERY

785 Fifth Avenue New York

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