Photography challenges – Drawings and sketches by Revello de Toro

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Photography often presents a challenge, not only because I take my photos with a mobile phone, but also because the environment, the light and shadows, the reflections and the angle of the object to be photographed make the task an odyssey.

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I honestly didn't know whether to publish these photographs or not, but I think they are a good example of the ingenuity that is often required to take certain shots.

Some time ago, I visited the Revello de Toro museum, a great Spanish painter whose works had a profound impact on me, especially because his paintings reflect his great admiration for women. His works are excellent, and I remembered, as I always do, my student years.

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He painted still lifes in different versions, and during my visit I took many photographs of those paintings, some close up and others from a distance. I only have two of those wonderful paintings left, taken from close up, because I have always particularly liked painting glass and cloth or fabric, and it is not easy.

But also, for the most part, his works consist of women, and his great work is formidable. For those who want to see some of these paintings, here is the link.

But on the third floor of the large old house that is now a museum dedicated to this painter, there is a very special room where you can find sketches and drawings, most of them done in pencil, but there are also some in oil. I published some of them at the time, only those referring to women. But there was much more, especially drawings of children, as if they were portraits.

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These drawings and sketches were in display cases on both sides of the room, slanted display cases with lights at the top, and they were not white lights but yellow ones, so I not only had to struggle with the reflection but also with that light that illuminated the top of the drawings and left the areas below in darkness.

I suppose this method is used to preserve the drawings, as they are very old and precautions must be taken to prevent them from being damaged, but it made it very difficult for me to take photographs. The images came out very yellow, but I was able to rescue many of them with a lot of work and bring them here.

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I think these works are worth seeing, to appreciate the painter's excellence, at the beginning of the work, or when he was drawing a model, the first strokes. It is something that is not usually shown, and I loved seeing it.

As I said, there were a wide variety of drawings, women's faces, cloths or clothes, children, and in this case, they were painted in both black pencil and coloured oils. Preserving those colours also requires a conservation technique, which brings me back to the subject of light.

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There were drawings of animals, boats, interior spaces, such as a room, drawings of many people as if in a meeting, but I must mention again this great artist's fascination with women, which is why most of the sketches were of women, many of whom did not even have faces, just a few strokes.

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Of all of them, all the ones I am bringing on this occasion, my favourites are the semi-profile portrait of a woman and the drawings and paintings of children, especially those who are playing or are portraits.

The photographs are not excellent for the reasons mentioned, but the artist is excellent, and I loved visiting this wonderful museum and appreciating the beauty of his works.

Thank you very much for joining me today. I wish you a very good Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.

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All photographs are my own.