Santa Teresa Street, Lavapiés

Against the prevailing Indigenism, the work of Carlos Quízpez Asín was characterized by a formalism that was open to incorporate elements of European innovation. Although the artist already revealed this modern sensibility in his previous works as an illustrator, his visit to Madrid in 1921 finally defined this vocation. A student of Valencian Cecilio Pla at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the artist was also a fellow student of Salvador Dalí, with whom he would be close due to his initial interest in Cubism. Indeed, Quízpez gradually assimilated the Classicism and rigorous compositional order of this movement. Five years after arriving in Madrid, the artist captured this street view, one of the many he would dedicate to the popular neighborhood of Lavapiés. Although timid, the cubist impression is reflected in the synthetic drawing and the geometrical rendering of the architecture. (RK)