El Greco: ambition & defiance

Abstract

Renowned for a singular artistic vision, Domenikos Theotokopoulos, known as El Greco (1541-1614), developed his distinctive painting style as he assiduously pursued professional success. This fresh and engaging survey of El Greco's work explores varied aspects of the artist's career -his aesthetic education in Italy, the mixed reception of his mature works in Spain, his uncompromising approach to business, and the baroque logistics of his Toledo workshop- and reveals the depth of El Greco's astounding ambition. The impressive volume focuses in particular on his 1577-79 altarpiece paintings for the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo -among them the magnificent 'Assumption of the Virgin'- which heralded the artist's arrival in Spain after productive periods of formation and re-formation in Crete, Venice, and Rome. Lavishly illustrated and clothbound with gilded edges, this publication features reproductions and scholarly discussions of more than 60 works ranging from large-scale canvases to intimate panels, with essays that elucidate the motives and meanings behind the artist's constantly changing and inventive approach. -------- Exhibition: Grand Palais, Paris, France (16.10.2019-10.02.2020) / The Art Institute of Chicago, USA (08.03-21.06.2020).

Contents

Introduction / Rebeccas J. Long -- El Greco in Italy / Keith Christiansen -- El Greco and Giulio Clovio: three gazes / José Riello -- El Greco's altarpieces: artistic ambition and legal frustration / Rebecca J. Long -- El Greco, religious painter: success and failure / Felipe Pereda -- Urbs Sacra: the demand for art in El Greco's Toledo / Richard L. Kagan -- El Greco and the image: between invention and variation / Guillaume Kientz -- El Greco's workshop in Spain / Leticia Ruiz Gómez -- Catalogue. Crete and Venice ; Rome ; Early works in Spain ; Patrons and portraits ; Devotional paintings ; The painter and his workshop -- Maps -- Chronology / Jena K. Carvana -- Selected bibliography