CRONICA TEAM (Valencia, 1964 - 1981). "Conde-Duque",... Lot 122

CRONICA TEAM (Valencia, 1964 - 1981). "Conde-Duque", 1970. Painting on papier-mâché, copy 9/25. Signed and serialised on the base. Work reproduced in the catalogue raisonné Michéle Dalmace. IVAN. p 147. Slight damage. Size: 106 x 50 x 35 cm. Equipo Crónica represents in this sculpture the effigy of the Count Duke of Olivares through a novel and ironic viewpoint, a great representation of the group's own idiosyncrasy. The work, which is based on the Spanish historical-artistic tradition, rescues one of the most important figures of the Baroque period, although treated from a groundbreaking and sharp point of view, as his hands are covered by boxing gloves. The Count Duke was portrayed by Velázquez himself; in fact, his influence can be slightly appreciated in the present sculpture. It is, therefore, a piece reinterpreted in a pop key, seeking the synthetism of the concept and an irreverent and even ironic expression that is evident in the presence of the boxing gloves. This work is one of Equipo Crónica's most recognised works, and an example of this is the collection of the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, which has a work from the same series. Equipo Crónica, or Crónicas de la Realidad, was a group of Spanish painters active between 1964 and 1981. It was founded by Manolo Valdés, Juan Antonio Toledo, who soon left the group, and Rafael Solbes, whose death in 1981 put an end to the project. The historian and critic Tomás Llorens was also a member of the group, and he explains the theoretical basis of Equipo in a text entitled "La distanciación de la Distanciación" ("The Distancing of Distanciation"). The three painters also signed a manifesto in 1965, in which they defined themselves as a working group with collective methods and supra-individual aims. Equipo Crónica moved away from the prevailing informalism to cultivate figurative painting, closely linked to pop art. Fed up with introspection, these artists took to the streets and observed the world around them, a society of incipient industrialisation and tourists. Their themes critically analysed the political situation in Spain, as well as the history of art, drawing inspiration from classic works such as Picasso's "Guernica" and Velázquez's "Las Meninas". Their style was a unique blend of realism, criticism, pop, pictorial quotations, anachronisms and bittersweet pastiches. In contrast to the grandiose and picturesque image of Spain that Franco's regime wanted to project abroad, Equipo Crónica focused on another, darker and more sombre image of the country, always resorting to irony. Starting from their own direct style, with clear images that everyone could read, they tried to "chronicle reality", a kind of social realism but using contemporary visual systems. The group produced paintings, sculptures and engravings, and tended to work in series, which made it possible to analyse the same subject with different variations. Equipo Crónica started from a very simple language, with monochrome and repeated images, very close to contemporary media, especially newspaper photographs. From there, after the turning point of "Latin Lover" in 1966, the members of the group gradually enriched their language to put it at the service of political satire.