In the period between the wars, Paris was still one of the vital hubs of world art. With the generic name of the Paris School, a generation of artists became known who worked on their artistic talent in the cafés, discussions and streets of the French capital, often quite separately or distant from one another.
It was not a school that acquired or shared a specific style or technique, so much as a generation whose simultaneous presence in Paris bound them together and fostered their mutual exchange and learning.
Here, we can see an Untitled 1928 work by Madrid-born artist Francisco Bores, who produced part of his internationally known work in Paris. On a background of deep-red shades, Bores transparently depicted a busy and crowded Paris street scene. His use of detailing is intimate and anecdotal without being nationalistic or localistic.
Another of the leading exponents of this school is Manuel Ángeles Ortiz, who was from Jaen, and whose untitled Surrealist-inspired abstract oil, painted in 1929 and 1933, you can also see here.
Your eye may also be caught by the colourful work, La Verbena, which means an open-air dance, by the Galician painter Maruja Mallo. The poet Federico Garcia Lorca said of her:
"Maruja Mallo,, with her Verbena and her Scarecrow, all the beauty in the world fits in an eye. Her pictures are the most imaginative, emotional and sensual paintings I have seen”
(c) (R) 2012, MUSMon com S.L.
The Reina Sofia MUSMon.com audioguide makes a better visit to the "Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia" (MNCARS). It is an independent production from the museum. It offers 67 minutes of two voices narrations with 43 explanations of works, authors and artistic trends.
It comes with 65 photographs, and museum plans. It also includes the full text transcriptions of voiceover, technical data and several organized itineraries. +info