When I visited the National Museum of Reina Sofia in Madrid this summer, I had to pause when I passed by Rosario de Velasco’s “Adam and Eve”. The oil painting made in 1932 portrays a relaxed couple lying on thick foliage, barefoot, fully dressed, looking at each other in the eyes, comfortable in each other’s company. The time seems to be in late afternoon, when the sun is down and shadows befall, accentuating the cheekbones on their faces and wrinkles on Eve’s white dress. They seem to be talking, figuring out about something together. It made me think about the relationship of couples, the bond that is built from spontaneous moments of peace and mutual understanding, the moments when they can talk things out, make plans, think as one. The moments that are timeless and universal.
Rosario studied art under Spanish painter Fernando Alvarez de Sotomayor but little else is recorded. Even though her painting hangs close to Dalí, Picasso or Juan Gris, she is rather unknown, maybe because it was difficult to be a woman painter in early 20th century or due to her political affiliation with Franco’s dictatorship. During the Spanish Civil War, she was sentenced to death but was able to escape to France.
Her paintings follow a traditional figurative style, with contemporary overtones and rich colors. In “Adam and Eve”, the couple rests still but the play of light and shadow make the painting come to life. Her themes were not political, and her favorite subjects were seascapes, portraits, and landscapes.
As I moved on to other paintings at the museum, the image of Adam and Eve lingered on, and for an instant I thought that moments like these, like true art, are precious and unique time and again. Then and now.
