PHOTO: Manuel Castells

The monastery of Leyre hosted the celebration of the award Príncipe de Viana de la Cultura, which was awarded to the painter Antonio López, honorary doctor by the University of Navarra (2011). The Prince and Princess of Asturias and the Prince of Viana presided over the submission of this recognition, in a ceremony that was also attended by the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, José Ignacio Wert; Yolanda Barcina, president of the Autonomous Community of Navarra; and Ángel J. Gómez Montoro, President of the University.

Antonio López expressed his gratitude: "I like to think that my relationship with you, on the occasion of the painting workshops, first in Tudela and then in Pamplona, at the University of Navarra, has been a determining factor. This award is one more reason that unites me to this land of Navarre". For his part, the Prince of Asturias, who in 1985 awarded the painter the award Prince of Asturias of the Arts and in 2006 the award Velázquez of the Plastic Arts, has praised the way in which"he manages with his brushes, in a meditated and calm way, to distill reality and show us the essence of things".

Antonio López, representative of Spanish contemporary realism and one of the most sought-after Spanish painters in the international art markets, won the award for this award over six other candidates. Professor Emeritus The organist and composer Luis Bacaicoa Martich; researcher Jesús-Rodrigo Bosqued Fajardo; the Flamarique sisters; the composer José María Goicoechea Aizcorbe; the journalist, writer and university professor Pedro Lozano Bartolozzi; and the cartoonist and graphic humorist César Oroz Martija.

Painting workshop at the University, since 2006

Born in Tomelloso (Ciudad Real) in 1936, his early vocation for drawing, as well as the influence of his uncle, the painter Antonio López Torres, shaped his decision to devote himself to painting when he was only 13 years old. He then moved to Madrid to prepare for his admission to the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, where he remained between 1950 and 1955.

In 1955 he traveled to Italy, and, after finishing his programs of study, from 1965 to 1969 he was professor in charge of the Chair Preparatory of Coloring at the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando. In 1993 he was appointed member of issue of the Real Academia de San Fernando in Madrid.

The painter's work is characterized by a sense of reality researcher and is considered the father of the Madrid hyperrealist school. At the University of Navarra he has been teaching since 2006 the Figurative Painting Workshop where he works on the genres of the figurative tradition, such as still life, the human figure with natural models and landscapes.