[2] Antonio López was born on 6 January 1936 in Tomelloso, Ciudad Real, a few months before the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.All the information that López García accessed on contemporary art was derived from library books at the school; he gradually became aware of Picasso and other great artists of the period.During this period Antonio López shows an increasing interest in the representation of objects, independent of their contained narrative load.Some of his relief sculptures conjure fantastic episodes, such as The Apparition (1963), in which a child hovers mid-air against a wall, gliding toward an open door.The Grapevine (1960) evokes Tiepolo's sunlight, The Quince Tree (1962) Chardin's dusky murk, and other paintings echo Old Masters from Dürer to Degas.Starkly lit studies of his studio, bathroom, and the red brick wall in his backyard underscore an interest in prosaic subject matter.He is a versatile realist, proficient in the traditional media of pencil drawing, oil painting on board, carved wood sculpture, and bas relief in plaster.The film, which portrays López's struggles to paint, and then draw, a small quince tree growing in the backyard of his studio, gives considerable attention to his almost fanatically exacting working methods.
Woman in the bathtub
, oil on canvas, 1968 by Antonio López García
Street of Santa Rita
, oil on canvas, 1961 by Antonio López García
Irises and Roses
, oil on canvas, 1977–80 by Antonio López García