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El Intérprete Ciego De La Tour

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El Intérprete Ciego De La Tour El intérprete ciego de La Tour A propósito de la estancia del Ciego tocando la zanfonía en el Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM) de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria María de Los Reyes Hernández Socorro Santiago de Luxán Meléndez (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) INTRODUCCIÓN En 2019 el Museo Nacional del Prado, creado durante el reinado de Fernando VII, incluyó en el programa del bicentenario de su fundación una exposición itinerante de una serie de obras por diversos lugares de España. Al Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria le correspondió el Ciego tocando la zanfonía, de Georges de La Tour (1593-1652). En estas notas pretendemos acercarnos a la citada pintura, explicando el proceso por el cual la tela se integró en la colección del Prado. Analizamos brevemente, en segundo lugar, el proceso de descubrimiento y reconstrucción de la obra del lorenés. Finalmente, nos atrevemos a acercarnos a la obra de un modo más personal, tratando de reflejar lo que nos sugirió la contemplación del tocador de zanfonía. 1. PRESENTACIÓN DE LA OBRA: SU ADQUISICIÓN POR EL PRADO EN 1991 Manuel Villaescusa Ferrero1 puso a disposición del Museo en su legado testamentario (1991) un patrimonio inmobiliario y monetario valorado en más de 7 000 000 000 de pesetas (42 millones euros), que debían emplearse en la adquisición de obras para sus colecciones2.El Museo a través de su Patronato, -leemos en su página web- designó una comisión que desde el mismo año 1991 estudió ofertas y propuso adquisiciones, que sumaron hasta el año 2000 más 1 Jesús URREA FERNÁNDEZ (ed.), Un Mecenas póstumo: el legado Villaescusa: adquisiciones 1992-93.Catálogo, Madrid, Museo del Prado, 1993. 2 https://www.museodelprado.es/aprende/enciclopedia/voz/villaescusa-ferrero-manuel/34104e25-c3d9-4b49- 88b3-a9372d914994. Consultado el 10/06/2019. 1 de doscientas compras, la última de ellas La Condesa de Chinchón de Goya3. Las dos pinturas extranjeras principales que se adquirieron con este legado fueron el Retrato de familia, de Adriaen Thomasz Key y el Ciego tocando la zanfonía, de Georges de La Tour, que es la obra que nos ocupa. Según la información del Museo, el cuadro del pintor lorenés fue adquirido para el Museo del Prado con fondos del Legado Villaescusa el 13 de diciembre de 1991 en la Galería Christie´s de Londres, por la cantidad de 2.168.266,49 euros. Su ingreso en esta institución se produciría de forma inmediata en enero de 1992. Es decir, aproximadamente un cinco por ciento del total del legado se empleó en la compra del La Tour. Las adquisiciones realizadas con el legado Villaescusa causaron cierta crítica, como se recoge en los medios de comunicación4. La de La Tour tuvo que realizarse por intermediación de la Galería Agnew's, dado que el Prado todavía no tenía personalidad jurídica propia5. 3 https://www.museodelprado.es/aprende/enciclopedia/voz/condesa-de-chinchon-la-goya/8b57d12d-c036-4a36- ad45-e05d5128595a. Consultado el 21/06/2019. Carmen, GARRIDO, “El retrato de La condesa de Chinchón: estudio técnico”, Boletín del Museo del Prado, XXI, Madrid, 2003, pp. 44-55. El cuadro fue declarado inexportable (Ley de Patrimonio artístico de 1985). A fines de los 90’ trató de adquirirlo la Real Academia de San Fernando. En el año 2000 el coleccionista Juan Abelló intentó comprarlo por 4.000 millones de pesetas, pero el Estado ejerció el derecho de tanteo (Orden Ministerial de 18 de enero de 2000) y el Prado lo incorporó a los fondos del Museo, aportando 1.200 millones del Legado Villaescusa. https://elpais.com/diario/2000/02/22/cultura/951174003_850215.html. Consultado el 21/06/2019. En total el Estado español pagó 24 millones de Euros. 4 Véase por ejemplo “¿Compra el Prado a ciegas?” (ABC Cultural nº 108 26/11/1993). 5 Ley 46/2003, de 25 de noviembre, reguladora del mismo que en su artículo 1 le dota de personalidad jurídica propia y plena capacidad de obrar, pública y privada, para el cumplimiento de sus fines; y por su Estatuto, aprobado por Real Decreto 433/2004, de 12 de marzo. 2 Ciego tocando la zanfonía (Georges de La Tour): entre 1620 y 1630, óleo sobre tela, Altura: 86 cm; Ancho: 62,5 cm Museo Nacional del Prado 3 Antes de la subasta la Galería Christie´s ofreció a los posibles compradores una información de gran interés6. La venta se presentó con el nº 4681, dentro del lote Obras maestras antiguas, el 13/12/1991. El autor de referencia que daba valor a la obra que se subastaba fue Pierre Rosenberg, quién un año antes había escrito que el tocador de zanfonía era el descubrimiento más importante del pintor La Tour desde mediados de la década de 1970. Y añadía que era “un chez d'oeuvre sans équivalent dans la peinture européenne del première moitié du XVIIe siècle”7. La Galería daba noticia, además, de que La Tour había pintado una serie de tocadores ciegos de zanfonía que generalmente se consideran obras tempranas de la década de 1620: dos de ellas (Musée Municipal, Bergues, y Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes) muestran al tocador de frente y sentado, mientras que en la tercera (Musée Charles-Friry, Remiremont) aparece representado sentado y de perfil; imagen muy parecida, por tanto, a la comprada por el Prado. 2. LA RECONSTRUCCIÓN DE LA OBRA DE GEORGES DE LA TOUR: EXPOSICIONES Y MUSEOS La vida del ciego tocando la zanfonía de La Tour presenta muchas incógnitas, todavía hoy difíciles de resolver. El cuadro parece que fue pintado entre 1620-1630, es decir, en fechas más tempranas que las que se suponía. No sabemos quién se lo encargó, aunque parece ser que en un inventario del Castillo de Montmorency (1764) figuraba un cuadro de estas características en la habitación del rey. Desconocemos también la trayectoria del lienzo hasta que apareció en el mercado inglés y fue adquirido en 1986 por el coleccionista Hiroshi Ishizuka de Tokyo8. Sabemos, como 6https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/georges-de-la-tour-1593-1652-2925615-details.aspx. Consultada el 17/06/2019. 7 Pierre ROSENBERG, “Un nouveau La Tour”, in Scritti in Onore di Giuliano Briganti, 1990, p. 178. Del mismo autor, “An unpublished composition by Georges de La Tour”, in The Burlington Magazine, CXXXIII, no.1063, Oct. 1991, p.705 and p.704, fig.48. 8 Michel STRAUSS, Pictures, Passions and Eye. A Life at Sotheb'ys, Halban, London, 2013. El empresario japonés Hiroshi Ishizuka patentó el proceso para la fabricación de diamantes artificiales, lo que le proporcionó una gran fortuna. Según Strauss, comenzó a reunir su colección en los años 60 pero la crisis económica de los años 80’ y 4 ya hemos indicado, que fue adjudicado por la cantidad de 1 870 000 libras -el precio más alto jamás obtenido en subastas por un cuadro de La Tour- a la galería Agnew's, por cuenta del Museo del Prado. Qué preguntas debe formularse el historiador del Arte ante Georges de La Tour: cómo se formó, qué artistas le influyeron, trabajó o no aislado, cuál fue la movilidad del pintor, qué producción realizó a lo largo de su vida, qué datación tienen sus obras, cómo la hemos ido conociendo, por qué se atribuían sus cuadros a tantos pintores (Velázquez, Zurbarán, Rembrandt, Rizzi…), cómo se explica la diferente calidad de sus lienzos o, finalmente, por no hacer interminable la lista, por qué hay tantas copias, o también el problema de su atribución (el “ruido latouriano” al que se refiere Salmon). Todas estas cuestiones las hemos ido conociendo mejor en los últimos treinta años, en los que las exposiciones y el mercado del arte en torno a La Tour han estado en ebullición. La historiografía está de acuerdo en que el descubrimiento de la obra de Georges de La Tour tuvo su arranque en 1915 en un artículo de Hermann Voss (1884-1969)9, un especialista en la pintura barroca italiana, a partir de dos cuadros del Museo de Bellas Artes de Nantes: Las negaciones de San Pedro y El sueño de San José10. Después del historiador alemán, cinco hitos principales han marcado el proceso de reconstrucción del pintor lorenés11: la exposición de L’Orangerie de 1934, que tuvo una réplica principios de los 90’, le obligó a desprenderse de ella, siendo subastada en Sotheb’ys y Christie’s. Ishizuka, por ejemplo, adquirió La Madonna, el niño y San Juan Bautista de Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, en 1967. La colección de Ishizuka comprendía maestros antiguos, pintura del XIX e impresionistas, adquiridos en subastas internacionales durante dos décadas. 9 Hermann VOSS, “George du Mesnil de La Tour. Der Engel erscheint dem hl. Joseph, Petrus und der Magd [...]”, Archiv für Kunstgeschichte, II, Leipzig. 1915. Obituario en Gerhard EWALD, “Hermann Voss”, The Burlington Magazine , Vol. 112, No. 809, (Aug., 1970), pp. 538+540-541. Jean-Pierre CUZIN et Dimitri SALMON Georges de La Tour Histoire d'une redécouverte , Découverte Gallimard / Réunion des Musées Nationaux, septembre 1997 Lee, SORENSEN (ed.) "Voss, Hermann." Dictionary of Art Historians (website). http://www.arthistorians.info/vossh. Consultado el 19/06/2019. 10 Francisco CALVO SERRALLER, “De La Tour: la resurrección de un fantasma”, en https://elpais.com/cultura/2016/02/10/babelia/1455117389_222188.html. Consultado el 16/06/2019. Fernando CHECA, “Realidad y silencio en Georges de La Tour. Notas sobre la exposición del Museo del Prado”, Revista de Libros, junio de 2019. https://www.revistadelibros.com/articulos/realidad-y-silencio-en-georges-de-la-tour. Consultado el 16/06/2019. 11 Pierre ROSENBERG, “L’apport des expositions et de leurs catalogues à l’histoire de l’art”, En Revenant de l’expo, Cahiers du MNAM, 29, automne 1989, pp.
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