Isabel Villar

ISABEL VILLAR (Salamanca, 1934).
"In the pond", 1976.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed and dated in the middle right area.
Measurements: 100 x 81 cm; 122 x 103 cm (frame).
The work shows the artist's personal pictorial universe, characterized by apparently peaceful scenes that hide a subtle restlessness. In fact, the composition of this piece and the theme are closely related to another very similar work in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía: La familia en el estanque (1975, nº AS05855). Both compositions repeat the arrangement of the characters in the foreground and the garden as an almost ornamental background, which suggests a thematic and formal continuity in Villar's production during these years. This reiteration reinforces his interest in the representation of family and identity within idealized natural spaces, where the everyday acquires a poetic and slightly disturbing tone. Villar uses a meticulous technique and a luminous chromatism, with a predominance of green, to construct a space that refers to a domestic paradise. However, the rigidity of the figures, their fixed gazes and the symmetrical composition generate an ambiguous sensation, between the idyllic and the enigmatic. This contrast is characteristic of her work, where women and family portraits occupy a central place within natural settings charged with symbolism.

Painter, sculptor and engraver, Isabel Villar began her training at the School of Fine Arts of San Eloy, and later moved to Madrid to continue it at the School of San Fernando (1952). In the capital she joined the group La Cepa, and in 1957 she became known in a group exhibition held at the Casa de Salamanca in Madrid. The following year she made her individual debut in the Miranda hall in her native city, where she returned after finishing her studies, joining the Koiné and Tormes groups. After a stay in Santander she returned to Madrid for good, and there she participated in important group exhibitions until 1971, when she presented herself individually for the first time in this city. She is currently represented in the MNCA Reina Sofía, the Museums of Contemporary Art of Elche, Toledo, Seville, Villafamés and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the National Library of Madrid, the Testimoni collection of La Caixa, the Vatican Museum and many other collections, both public and private.