March 6, 2007

Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series

CONTEMPORARY ART LESSONS IN NAVARRA

Trends in contemporary sculpture: the commemorative monument

Dr. Javier Azanza López.
Chair of Navarrese Heritage and Art

At the time of approaching a topic like this one, a reflection becomes inexcusable from entrance : the value of the commemorative monument is not limited only to its artistic facet, to its formal aspects, but it is much more: it comes to capture in stone, marble or bronze a feeling, a way of being or thinking, a behavior to follow or to imitate, the conscience and pride of belonging to a locality or to a whole community, in final, the identity of a kingdom. Few works are more rooted in the historical, sociological and cultural context than commemorative sculpture representing historical events or illustrious figures with which the collective spirit of a people is identified.

In addition, the understanding of any memorial involves the analysis of its formal, typological, material and thematic components. It is essential to pay attention to the site, to the space that surrounds the memorial and with which in most cases establishes a direct dialogue. Together with the site, the study of the typology is core topic when approaching the commemorative monument, from those that respond to an architectural approach to the fully sculptural in its various variants: standing figures, seated, statuary in group and busts. Navarre lacks equestrian monuments, probably because this typology is inseparable from illustrious politicians and military men, group that acquires a minor role in our community. 

It is very interesting to learn about the commissioners who took the initiative to erect them and those who paid for them, as well as the public ceremonies, both official and popular, that surrounded the inauguration of the various monuments. The chapter dedicated to the artists is another of the contributions of this topic because of the diversity of sculptural languages, from the most historicist to abstract sculpture. Thus, this discipline includes names such as Fructuoso Orduna and Ramón Arcaya, part of the figurative and realistic current of the first half of the 20th century, as well as the more recent Jorge Oteiza, Faustino Aizkorbe or Carlos Ciriza from Estella, without forgetting other artists such as Áureo Rebolé, Antonio Loperena, Rafael Huerta, Juan Manuel Campos Mani, José Ulibarrena, Henriette Boutens, Manuel Clemente Ochoa, Boregan or Pedro Jordan, who allow us to make a broad tour of the Navarrese sculpture of the 20th century in its various trends. 

Just as important as the study of the artists is the study of the iconography of the commemorative monument, which in Navarre can be classified into four large groups. In the first place, the monuments that celebrate events of various kinds relevant to the history of Navarre, whether of a political, military or religious nature. The monument to the Fueros of Pamplona heads this group , to which other localities that also have their corresponding foral tribute are added.

Pamplona. Monument to the Fueros. Manuel Martínez de Ubago

More numerous is the group dedicated to historical figures, which includes names of international stature as well as those belonging to the small local history of some towns. Thus, monarchs, belonging to the Navarrese dynasty and therefore chronologically located in the Age average have deserved the honor of the pedestal; characters linked to the world of politics, who have the common denominator of having acted -and, of course, are remembered as such- as distinguished benefactors of the places where the statues are dedicated to them; military men, warlords and guerrilla fighters, although the execution or later conservation of some of these monumental groups has not been free of controversy; saints, all of them related to the history of Navarre, who have circumstantially left the altars to occupy a place in the public thoroughfare; personalities from the world of arts and literature, a field always more prone to unanimity when it comes to recognizing the merits of the honorees, and located by rule generally in public parks and gardens, as if there were a representative association between this field and this facet of culture; doctors, since the exercise of such profession has always enjoyed a respectable social value; and finally, theologians and members of religious orders that appear in the public thoroughfare, either for their literary prestige, their dedication to charitable activities and their sacrifice towards others, or as promoters and founders of institutions and schools.

Tudela. Monument to Sancho VII the Strong. Antonio Loperena

The third group would be dedicated to monuments of a religious nature in which those dedicated to the Sacred Heart, an iconography that acquired prominence in Navarre in the 1940s and continued during the following two decades, and to the Immaculate Conception, acquire special prominence.

Pamplona. Monument to San Francisco Javier. Faustino Aizkorbe

Finally, monuments of a symbolic and sociological nature, which represent a symbol or an idea, or pay homage to an activity, profession or tradition deeply rooted in our land, also play an important role in Navarre. Monuments dedicated to peace, to the family, to pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago or to Javier, to the encierro, to the auroro, to the shepherd or to the market gardener, also make up many of the representative values of our community.

Pamplona. Monument to José Joaquín Arazuri.