Vicente Llorens Poy
Vicente Llorens Poy is a painter and sculptor born in Spain in 1937 and died in 2014.
“Art as such fulfills the lofty mission of offering the
man a spiritual delight but at the same time it also constitutes
a historical document of great value because every artist at
performing a work sincerely cannot hide character
of the world that surrounds him”
(Personal archive of Vicente Lloréns Poy)
“I am in love with the classic, with light, with the sun
Levante, of everything that contains Art. I even admit it
abstract, not that which is too abstract, but what is
made sincerely. I don’t stray from the currents
modern, I admit them, and I continue in my line, in which
pictorial truth prevails, the sense of things and the
pure feeling, the vocation”.
(Valencian newspaper Levante in May 1958)
“I believe that the painter should not prefer any theme,
even if you like some more than others.
The works of the great masters are an example that any subject can be included in a painting and all can be treated with the same dignity.
I admire an ideal painter, who would be the sum of
values of a group of painters in which we could include
the delicacy of Fra Angelico, the grace of Botticelli, the strength of Caravaggio, the mystique of El Greco, the serenity
of Velázquez and the expressiveness of Goya”.
(Madrid newspaper April 1963)
“The premeditated concept of bohemia is false and
It is only used for advertising.
Art is carried within; has no clothing.
The authentic artist is simple and devoted to his work.
He must have a lot of faith in himself, but also honestly recognize other people’s values that undoubtedly offer interest ”.
(Mediterranean in October 1967)
“Life takes you down paths that you do not decide.
Almost since I finished my studies I dedicated myself more to painting and,
In addition, the majority of the exhibitions were of painting, but of
In any case, I have never left sculpture.
I would even say that when I paint, and some critics have recognized this, underneath the paint, especially in the nudes, a sculpture can be appreciated, forms that do not forget the sculptor.
At a certain time I painted many portraits and always
he sought the interior of the personality.
Later I painted compositions in which the figures appeared dressed, but I thought that the dress was a matter of fashion, and I went
simplifying the matter and I was left with the naked figure.
I would even say that the interesting thing would be to paint the nude to the nude,
the total interior of the human being that, perhaps, has always been the same, but that I believe has special connotations in each era”
(“Mediterranean” April 1986").
“Painting fulfills a social function from the moment that it provides spiritual satisfaction to those who contemplate the works.
Social is not only a work because of its content, because of its theme, but because, being addressed to everyone, as many as want can have access to its contemplation”
(Mediterranean newspaper of Castellón March 1970)
“A painting is a friend when it is painted with sincerity, when you enjoy it, when the problems you may have are challenges to overcome, but if the work is not felt and you try to hide a commitment, it makes you suffer and becomes an enemy. that gives you away
If a work has not been finished due to impotence, it is frustrating, but if it remains unfinished due to external circumstances, it is an injustice, since an author cannot be judged for an incomplete work.
I don’t really believe in awards because art is very subjective. This remains for sports competitions where the goals are fully determined.
But humanly, like the artist, he lives a world apart without preconceived formulas.
In the solitude of his studio, seeing that others recognize his work, there is no doubt that they stimulate him to continue working.
A satisfied man is the one who considers that he has reached his own summit.
I am aware that art has no goal and I think that you have to live in a constant desire to excel.
I feel lucky because in contrast to the vocational frustrations that our society currently causes, I have the satisfaction of thinking that if I had to start over, I would not hesitate for a moment in choosing the same path”.
(Magazine “Castellón Diario” May 1987).
“The urban landscape is more concrete and can be more effective due to its contrasts and its games of perspective.
The free-range landscape reaches greater distances in depth.
A very varied range and a broader vision.
I particularly like to paint those distances, although I understand that both themes offer possibilities for an interesting plastic execution.
It all depends on the approach and treatment given to them.
In the portrait, the painter’s creative and even interpretative freedom is diminished by adapting to a model that he, generally, has not chosen.
A portrait has to combine plastic nobility with fidelity to the spiritual and physical character of the person portrayed.
If this resemblance is not achieved, it is not a good portrait, and if with this concern the matter is neglected, it results in a mediocre painting. For a portrait to be a work of art, it has to be felt and achieved”.
(Newspaper “Pueblo” Madrid June 1970).
“I am not against progress at all.
One must always progress, otherwise art would be like
a dusty, lifeless museum.
But it is better that the renewal come from oneself, not imposed by the vagaries of fashion.
It must be born from personal feelings, without being tied to the past, nor conditioned by the need to commune out of obligation with avant-garde movements that may respond to passing fashions.
That is why I am in favor of renewal based on personal feelings, which tries to reflect the experiences that one lives every day.
The artist is the fruit of his time.
From the environment and circumstances he draws the experiences that he later takes to his personal work.
At this point in my life, I don’t care about fame for fame’s sake or an intense social life.
I have gotten over that. Fortunately I am in a situation that allows me to be faithful to my criteria and concepts”.
(“Levante” Valencia newspaper, February 2000).
“Painting, as a concept of art, is a manifestation of feeling expressed by shape and color.
If we understand by thematic preferences the topics
more similar to us, there is no doubt that there are; but if
we shield ourselves with a specialization to avoid
difficulties, he falls into mannerism.
It is not about being a landscaper, portraitist or still life painter. You have to be a painter in the broad sense of the word.
A painter needs to study nature, but without becoming enslaved to it.
When a painter masters the figure, he composes it as he wants.
There are times when we look for expressive movement and others when static serenity matters more.
In the figure I am not always interested in the external movement, but that which emanates from within.
In this case, I don’t think we can talk about statism”.
(Weekly “Obra” Castellón March 1973).
“The painter cannot be simply this or that, but simply a painter.
It happens that, due to fulfilling commissions, mistakenly in some sectors I was classified as a portrait painter.
This is absurd. I can say that what I like the most is the human theme, the composition, but completely free.
I am against specializations.
My thing is painting for painting’s sake, painting for painting’s sake, nothing more.
And my painting is a sincere interpretation of things, with modern techniques, but without ever forcing modernism”.
(Mediterranean newspaper of Castellón in August 1973).
“The aphorism of “Art for art’s sake’ is admissible or challengeable depending on the criteria with which it is followed.
Art contributes to the harmonious development of aesthetic faculties,
of the higher sensibility, of the creative and intellectual forces in artistic culture.
On the other hand, there is a classic definition of art: it is the embodiment of ideal beauty in sensible forms.
And the ideal beauty is the splendor of truth and good harmoniously intertwined or identified.
Express this beauty with elegance to produce the cleanest and highest fruition.
This is the function of art. And beauty, its goal.
(“La Marina” Alicante February 1974).
“If I have dedicated my life to art, I cannot be aware of satisfying people.
In fact, all the new currents have passed through my work, although none have dazzled me.
I believe that I have drawn and blurred, that I have learned a technique and have put it at the service of my concerns.
Mine, I think, has nothing to do with realism.
Mine is the new figuration”.
(“ABC” Madrid July 1985).
“I started influenced by the environment of the Schools and the climate; for the post-Sorollo painting that so many painters have followed.
Then we would have to talk about an obsession with matter, with qualities.
The struggle for perfectionism appears later, until I realized that it has to be simpler than all that, what is interesting is the simplification of things, the elimination of virtuosity
learned a priori, giving a work in which the message of the
itself is the fundamental
because this is the mission of the artist.
All this is valid both for the drawing and for the
settlement of color, much less spectacular.
It is not the same to be a color as a colourist.”
(“Mediterranean” March 1977).
“In the world of art there is no goal.
On the contrary, the more you do, the more you see the possibilities that exist.
That represents that one has to be in a constant struggle,
that it is not against anyone in particular, but against one’s own
accommodative conscience that each one of us carries within.
On the other hand, it is one thing to work and another to create.
The creation, perhaps, comes from the first idea, which is the sketch.
that has occurred to you at a given moment in the most incredible place.
Painting or modeling is always a matter of trade and overcoming the difficulties that each painting or sculpture entails”.
(“Mediterranean” August 1982).
“I flee from copying the nude from life, as is done in fine arts; My intention is to look for other things, normal people who don’t pose just to pose, but who live.
It would be ridiculous to take advantage of the nude as a fashion, as a mischief.
I would like it to look like a work of nature,
because my nudes are fragments of a large mural, no
they have the arrogance or grace of the classics and academics.
They are tired, melancholic nudes of today’s man who strips naked to die.”
(ABC of Madrid February 1983).
“I never make a work with the intention of following the line of previous styles, which on the other hand do not have a direct influence.
Now, what is certain is that our academic training responds to classical, Greek criteria, so that inadvertently they have more coincidences with that style than with that of the Renaissance, for example.
But I insist that naturally, without looking for it.
Because the personality of an artist is not artificially created, but is found throughout the work.
This is when that personality becomes authentic and fluid.
The opposite is to force the thing, until it becomes unnatural. I am sincere when I paint and if my paintings come out like this,
it is by a natural evolution.”
(“Mediterranean” March 1983).
“My work depends on a vocation and therefore it is who develops it more as a pleasure than as an obligatory activity.
Its liberal character contains advantages and disadvantages, but in the event of choosing again, I would not change it.
This security should be sought by everyone when deciding on the profession, since part of the individual and collective problems come from the lack of interest in the trade that is carried out”.
(Villarreal “Pueblo” Magazine September 1983).
Vicente Llorens Poy was a Doctor of Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid, with the qualification of Cum laude for his thesis on José Ortells and his sculptural work. He is in possession of the Medaille Internationale des Arts, the Commendation for Civil Merit, the Medal for Merit in Fine Arts, the Cross of San Raimundo de Peñafort, Cross and Commendation of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise, and in the year 1998 Pope John Paul II named him a Knight of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great in his civil class. He was named Adoptive Son by the town of Torrehermosa (Zaragoza) and Favorite Son of Villarreal.
His works appear in museums, public buildings and private collections in Spain, Italy, Vatican City, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, the United States and various Latin American countries.
Thank you my dear friend, for everything you taught me. Your human quality a benchmark and your work as an artist comparable to the greats of all time.
José Antonio Galán @galanvazquez
