Claudio Díaz, Sevillian painter between the social and the intimate, dies

2023-07-29 20:34:51

I am very saddened by the news of the death, at the age of 83, of Claudio Diazwho I met at the Sevilla from the late sixties, that is, centuries ago. He then belonged to popular print, created by the PCE in imitation of the one in Madrid. In addition to Claudio (initially, he signed that way, without his last name), the Sevillian group included, among others, Francisco Cortijo (its leader), Francisco Cuadrado, Cristóbal Aguilar (who always signed ‘Cristóbal’) and the sculptor Nicomedes.

The first gallery that dealt with our friend’s painting was La Pasarela, a pioneer space in that Seville. There he exhibited, in 1967, pictures of day laborers and workers; the catalog was prefaced by Valeriano Bozal. His first single from Madrid it took place in 1968 in Quixote, and in that case the introduction was by Moreno Galván. At that time the painter had his studio, tiny, above the San Vicente cinema, on the street of the same name. Quico Rivas and I were frequent visitors. So was the great adoptive Sevillian who was Zóbel, who in 1970 had him exhibit at the Sala Honda in Cuenca. Present in 1971 at the Paris BiennaleThe following year, in addition to participating in the Italian show ‘Amnistia’, Claudio was one of the ‘Nine painters of Seville’ that Juana de Aizpuru took to Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

Leaving behind the epic tone of his beginnings, he then concentrated on his family environment, painting his ‘Sacred Family’ (1970), and his environment, focusing especially on the decoration of everyday life, contemplated with a charming look, only his, between the sociological and, already, the lyrical.

Claudio Díaz then decided to tempt the Madrid adventure. He and his beloved Amparo, with their daughters Sensi and Hermas, settled in an apartment in Campamento, which was like a sweet embassy, ​​spiritually and gastronomically, from Seville, where it was frequent to meet their colleagues and friends José Duarte and Fernando Verdugo. , also in perpetual nostalgia for the South. Here he exhibited at Sen, Egam, Carmen Gamarra, Seiquer and Ángeles Penche. He was a March scholar. He collaborated with Grupo Quince. They wrote about him Antonio Bonet Correa, Calvo Serraller, José Ramón Danvila, José Hierro…

His 1984 retrospective at El Monte allowed his reunion with Seville, which he had just rejoined. Another important exhibition was, in 2010, that of the Casa de la Provincia. In his morose painting of maturity, secluded and silent, the everyday motifs and soft tones. Still lifes with oil lamps and sugar bowls, shells, clocks, books. Vases. The sea in Conil. A garden and a greenhouse in Mairena del Alcor. Clear skies. gentle hills. Figures contemplating the Guadalquivir, like the girl from behind, dressed as a Sevillian, who, not without some local controversy, starred in his poster for the 1989 Spring Festival. Unforgettable friend.