EL GRECO

Born in 1541 in Crete, El Greco lived in an island under the control of the Republic of Venice since 1204 and left his native island in 1567. He spent ten years travelling before he settled in Toledo, Spain, in 1577 where he died in 1614 having established himself and developing a reputation for his art. His portraiture work, immortalising the faces of his friends and patrons of the intellectual elite, his final style is known for his whirling, elongated figures outlined in black, his cool palette, dominated by blue and grey illuminated by supernatural rays of light, and his broad brushstrokes, possibly due to his visual impairment. El Greco was the first Master of the Spanish Golden Age. Here is Christ on the Cross, Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple depicted in a glorious double gatefold page with close-up details to compare easily alongside, The Fable and lift the flap to see a gatefold in the vertical direction. Further gatefolds show individual portraits or studies for such artworks as St Peter and St Paul, The Assumption of the Virgin and The Penitent St Mary Magdalene. This glorious small publication has just 56 pages but these nearly double up with the many gatefolds. Published in conjunction with El Greco Exhibition in Paris October 2019-February 2020. 12.5 x 17.5cm.