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Chilean realism in Spain / Gonzalo Martner
The notable success and support that several Chilean painters have enjoyed in the hard and demanding Spanish Realist School is a phenomenon deserving a deeper and more expert analysis. From Claudio Bravo onwards ,to mention the most well-known painter of all, the participation of Chilean artists in this pictorial tradition has continued to the present day. Venturing a hypothesis, we may suggest that certain aspects of the new “South American Flanders”, as embodied in the Chilean painters, have been succesfully grafted onto the old artistic roots left in Spain by Flemish Realism.
To be more precise, this exhibition, the sixth to be inaugurated since our Aurora Mina Hall opened its doors in 2007, is an array of drawings and oil paintings by one of the most important Chilean painters in the new batch of artists in the school of Pictorial Realism. Óscar Villalón is an artist whose thorough artistic grounding has been put at the disposal of a fine sensibility in order to renew the perpetual challenges posed by portraits and still-lifes.
We need to mention that Óscar Villalón, despite his youth, is a “master”, in the literal sense of the term. Apart from his expertise in his own art, we can find in him a guide and trainer of other painters. The Painting Academy he directs in Madrid together with another Chilean painter, Alejandro Decinti, has been for a long time a magnet that attracts students from many countries eager to learn their trade with these two master artists.
For all these reasons we are proud indeed to have Óscar Villalón displaying his works in the Aurora Mina Hall of this Embassy.
Gonzalo Martner
Embajador de Chile en España