Ten years have elapsed since the renovation of the National Archaeological Museum in 2014. The institution is now commemorating the tenth anniversary with a small exhibition in “Showcase Zero”, a space set aside specifically for examining the history of the museum itself. The exhibition includes a guest work, View of Madrid (Archaeological Museum from Calle Serrano) by Antonio López, belonging to the BBVA Collection.

The piece is particularly germane in this commemorative project, as it depicts the Archaeological Museum in 1962, seen from the rooftop terrace of an apartment in Calle Serrano. Equally of note is the fact that it is one of the first panoramic urban views of Madrid painted by Antonio López, who started working on this kind of representation in early 1960, a subject matter he continues to cultivate to date, though with evident variations.

It is a quite unique oil on board in López’s overall body of work. Indeed, while maintaining his signature hyperrealist style it contains elements more akin to the associated with his output before 1964. That is the case, for instance, of the inclusion of a couple of lovers kissing on top of a tree. He uses this feature to facilitate the coexistence of the private and intimate with the public and urban through an exchange of codes: something happening inside a home is immortalised outdoors, becoming part of the city’s everyday life, thus endowing the scene with a certain poetic air while conveying an element of surprise and even of unease.