2col 04 Studio with 3 Doors…

Antonio Lopez Garcia (Spanish, b 1936), “Studio With Three Doors,” 1969–70, pencil on paper, Fundación Pivada Sorigué-Lleida, Spain. —©Francisco Fernández, Unidad Móvil photo; photograph courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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For 4/11

ANTONIO LOPEZ GARCIA DEBUTS APRIL 20 AT MFA, BOSTON W/1CUT

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BOSTON, MASS — The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), will present the first retrospective at an American museum of the works of contemporary Spanish artist Antonio Lopez Garcia in an exhibition on view April 13–July 27. “Antonio Lopez Garcia” will feature approximately 55 paintings, drawings and sculpture by the celebrated artist of the realist school, including nine works from the MFA’s collection and loans from European and American museums and private collections

The exhibition will complement the major Spanish exhibition, “El Greco to Velazquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III,” which debuts at the museum April 20–July 27.

“Antonio Lopez Garcia” will highlight the artist’s career from 1955 to the present. The familiar and ordinary of Lopez’s world — the classical themes of landscape, still life, and figure realized through the close examination of his immediate surroundings — comprise this renowned artist’s subject.

With painstaking detail and profound adherence to observation, Lopez creates a faithful representation of his humble motifs. His strict dependence upon the truth of his subjects has become legendary — sculptures and paintings have sometimes taken him years to complete — which accounts for the often lengthy creative process for which he is known. The exhibition is sponsored by United Technologies Corporation.

“Antonio Lopez Garcia is considered a national treasure in his native Spain. We are proud to bring the extraordinary works of this contemporary realist and visionary to American audiences,” said Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

“Antonio Lopez Garcia” will present the artist’s work in three major groupings: Landscape, Still Life, and Figure.

In articulating his vision of Madrid, Lopez has chosen throughout his career to paint and draw the city from a variety of distinct views. “The North of Madrid from ‘La Maliciosa,’” 1963–64, JP Morgan Chase, New York, is a daunting panoramic view observed from the distance, of a notable spot in the Guadarrama Mountains near Madrid. In contrast in “South Madrid” 1965-85, Masaveu Foundation, Oviedo, Spain, the artist’s first attempt at painting urban Madrid.

Through intense observation, Lopez engages Madrid, as in his more recent painting, “Madrid as Seen from the Fire Tower of Vallecas,” 1997–2006, Madrid Assembly. Typically on view at the Madrid Assembly in the city’s Vallecas district, it has never been lent prior to this exhibition.

Lopez’s vision provokes the viewer to consider even the simplest subject matter with newfound significance. In “Sink and Mirror,” 1967, MFA, Boston, the tangible display of personal effects draws in the observer, creating an intimate display and self portrait.

Perhaps only the artist’s face is missing in Lopez’s close study of his family throughout his career. “Maria,” 1972, private collection, noteworthy for its realism, is a pencil drawing of the artist’s oldest daughter at the age of 10. But it is in sculpture that he has most often represented the human figure. From his earliest reliefs in painted wood of mysterious narratives, to the essence of his young daughter, life size, in the polychrome wood sculpture “Maria Standing,” 1964, private collection, sculpture plays a prominent role in the artist’s work.

The museum is at 465 Huntington Avenue. For information, www.mfa.org or 617-267-9300.