Diego Velázquez 1881 - 1884

Curator: Hans Makart’s "Diego Velázquez," completed between 1881 and 1884, certainly grabs the eye. What's your immediate reaction? Editor: All that fleshy realism jammed into that cramped semi-circle! I'm struck by the theatrical excess, and wondering about the labor of applying paint so thickly. Curator: The arrangement evokes both triumph and self-conscious reflection. Note how the two allegorical figures flank the portrait of Velázquez, one wreathed, the other pensive. They act as muses, perhaps. Editor: Muses who've clearly spent a lot of time posing! I’m more interested in what Makart was actually using to produce this elaborate painting; what sort of oil paints were available at that time, what support the oil was applied to? Were commercially produced canvases used, or were canvases being stretched in the studio? And what’s the surface like, does it show brushstrokes, and is it matte or glossy? Curator: An interesting perspective. For me, their postures suggest Contemplation and Action, timeless ideals associated with creative genius. Their presence transforms Velázquez's portrait into a symbol, something exceeding the man himself. I wonder, too, what symbolic charge the golden background might be holding... a statement on Velazquez's value perhaps? Editor: I get what you’re saying. To think about labor and production – those fleshy figures probably didn't just spontaneously appear, there had to be model fees paid! What about artistic labour then; do those heroic postures romanticize, or reveal the amount of actual work in such a construction? What about the frame too, gilded no doubt? Someone had to be employed to create it. The symbolism is there but is that symbolism hiding and adding to a complex world of production? Curator: A vital reminder that art is never made in a vacuum, and the materials, techniques, and economics certainly shape the final work. Perhaps it also speaks to the grand academic tradition to which Makart belonged and how Velázquez was becoming totemic of artistic genius. Editor: Yes, you've turned my head there; It is all about art and value creation in its broadest sense. Well put!