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This summer in Madrid, the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum celebrates Cristòbal Balenciaga -1895- 1972- and Spanish painting from the 16th to the 20th century.
A hundred or so clothes from three Spanish museums, Museo de
Getaria, birthplace of the Basque designer, Museo del Traje in Madrid and Museo del Disseny in Barcelona, as well as others borrowed from private collections are compared with some fifty paintings by Spanish painting of these last five centuries. The works of El Greco, Velasquez, Murillo, Goya, Ignacio Zuloaga and Francisco de Zurbaràn thus interact with the models born of their inspiration. Their influence is clearly visible in all of Balenciaga’s work. The pure lines of the religious clothes set the tone for the Virgin dresses of the brides while the vests of matadors highlight eternal Carmen.
Forms, volumes, chromatic echoes fascinated this son of a fisherman and a seamstress who dressed the Basque aristocracy.
From his childhood, Balenciaga bathes in this refined and international elegance.