Gary J. Kirkpatrick Art and Travel Blog
Expressionistic art
Fantasy Quartet
This is based on an automatic drawing and given an expressionist treatment in acrylics. Automatic drawing was popularized by the surrealists in the 1920ś. The audience is bathed in a comforting blue haze. The original drawing is posted below.
Sorolla: Notes in the sand – Apuntes en la arena
(Exhibit at El Carmen Museum, Valencia, Spain)
April 15, 2016
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863 – 1923) is known as a master of light and for his portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes, many in the impressionist style. Many of his paintings are housed at the Museo Sorolla in Madrid, while there are monumental works permanently exhibited at the Hispanic Society in New York. The El Carmen Museum in Valencia (http://www.consorciomuseos.gva.es/SOROLLA,-APUNTES-EN-LA-ARENA.asp) is currently exhibiting an excellent collection of Joaquin Sorolla’s paintings of Valencian beach scenes. You can see a few of the 100 works below.
He gained tremendous notice from the painting and exhibition of Sad Inheritance. This painting featured children effected by the polio epidemic circa 1900.
Children on the Beach sold at auction for 3.5 million euros.
Despite his mastery of the medium and tremendous production he is little known outside Spain.
For biographical information go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaqu%C3%ADn_Sorolla
Crema at City Hall (Ayuntamiento) 2016
The Crema is the burning of the Fallas’ each year starting at 11 p.m. approximately and going to well after 1 a.m. Each of the hundreds of installations throughout the city is burned. There are fireworks galore. The city is alight and thundering. The video is one I took at the Ayuntamiento Plaza, the last one to be burned, and generally the largest and most spectacular. There are tens of thousands of people in the plaza as you will see.
For background information see https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/the-fallas/
Bolero de Carlet, traditional Valencian dance. Just happened across it while we were walking through the medieval section. You will find it interesting!
Casal Calle Cuba- Liiorat Alzorin won many prizes in 2016, including best sound and light show and 1st place in the Special category (largest) for it’s many slendored fallas. Here is a short slide show (below the photos):
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Fireworks at the unveiling of the statue at City Hall
One of the largest and most fabulous of the Fallas’ is the one at city hall (Ayuntamiento). Photos and video.
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Sound and Light Shows in Rusafa neighborhood of Valencia March 2016
March 3, 2016 we visited the workshop area where the sculpture for Fallas are produced. These are made from foam over a wood frame. Each neighborhood Fallas contracts with a workshop to produce these creative and delightful sculptures each year. Except for a very few ‘small’ ones (small is human sized) all are burned around midnight on March 19 each year. The largest are around 25 meters/80′ in height. This industry employs hundreds of artists, carpenters and other skilled labor and brings in 800,000 people to Valencia each year. The streets are lively, filled with lights and stands selling churros and other fried goodies, mojitos (a mixed alcoholic drink) and of course beer and wine. The neighborhood fallas organizations have tents, lots of parties, and make paella on wood fires on the street. Some of them sell portions as fund raisers.
Fallas is the annual carnival in Valencia, Spain. For background information see https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/the-fallas/
Fabulous fireworks during Fallas, Valencia March 5, 2016 from next to city hall. Enjoy!