Edited by Miguel Ángel Blanco, artist and curator of the exhibition.
Spanish. Hardcover. 21 x 24 cm. 336 pages.
The book includes the essays in English.
Published on the occasion of the exhibition On the Reverse, held at the Museo Nacional del Prado from 7 November 2023 to 3 March 2024.
In Las Meninas, Velázquez looks at us from behind a large canvas of which we can only see the back and which occupies a large part of the pictorial surface. With this canvas nailed to a wooden frame, the painter speaks to us of the image as artifice and opens a door to a secret dimension.
The exhibition Reversos goes beyond the simple action of turning the paintings. With it, the Museo del Prado makes a comprehensive re-evaluation of the reverses of its collections and identifies eloquent examples in other great museums that show how the appreciation of works of art is enriched when we do not limit ourselves to looking at them from the front. By turning these works upside down, thus perverting their conventional frontality, and by forcing us to surround them, taking on a more active role as spectators, we insert contemplative experiences into the museum that reclaim that side of the painting that the light does not reach.
The catalogue includes texts by Ramón Andrés, Ana González Mozo, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Victor I. Stoichita and the exhibition curator himself, the artist Miguel Ángel Blanco.
ISBN: 978-84-8480-604-2
