Art, the style of that art, the way imagination and creativity come to life to develop an idea are amazing, especially when we talk about a time when there weren't as many tools or technology as there are today, but rather it was hands that did most of the work and then help came from the printing press.
Primitive art, art made by human hands, is something I value greatly. Often, AI can generate unthinkable things, images that are super cool in a certain way, but art, images made by hand, painted by hand, have enormous value.
That kind of art takes time, knowledge, talent, imagination, and many other things. I read in a post the question of how long it takes to make a painting, to paint it by hand. My 30 x 40 cm paintings can take me about eight hours or more, depending on the degree of complexity of the face and the details. Imagine a large painting over two meters long and one meter high. Of course, painting human faces and bodies is not the same as painting a sunset landscape.
Today I bring you the second part of a forgotten art in this era of so many things done with AI, the art of advertising, especially that which was done 100 years ago, when it was necessary to publicize the films that were coming out. Graphic artists put all their knowledge into these beautiful posters. If you want to see the first part, I'll leave it here.
As I mentioned in that post, this exhibition was held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the actress who appears in these posters, Juanita Reina. Just look at the faces, the expressions the artists have given them, how they have perfectly captured this actress and her charisma.
But not only that, the film itself was advertised with different posters, so there were many designs for each one, and at that time many were painted by hand, or at least some parts of them. The cinema used this method to reach people, and thanks to great collectors of this art, they are still alive today to be shown to the public.
Some people will pass by an exhibition of this kind, but I really liked it, especially standing in front of these posters, some with wrinkles from the passage of time, and admiring the strokes, the prints, the typography, all of which is an art form that is no longer in use today.
This art, together with the art of cinema and music of that era, forms part of the history of Spain, a post-war history, where these forms provided a way to mentally escape from so much disaster, so much death, so much poverty, and to bring a smile or a little joy to people. I think about it and try to imagine those moments, when a little bit of joy was enough in the face of such painful moments of disaster.
The exhibition consisted not only of posters, but also of photographs of the artist and a small area where her films were shown. Of course, it is very difficult to capture this in photographs, but I wanted to reflect it in some way so that you can see that the exhibition was very comprehensive.
There were also framed drawings, portraits made of this actress who was so famous in her time in Spain, and it is worth noting that she always or almost always appears with a beautiful smile, the kind that Spaniards needed at that time.
Art, technique, imagination, and history often come together to create something great, like this exhibition, which surely touched the hearts of the Spaniards who saw it.
Thank you very much for joining me today. I wish you a very happy Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
