Tertulia (The Gathering)

The title of this painting contains an interesting paradox: the women at its centre are not engaged in conversation, their gazes do not meet and the intellectual gathering, the crux of which is its verbal nature, is set forth here in an atmosphere of silence. Although Ángeles Santos did not choose the titles of her works, this painting does, in contrast with José Gutiérrez Solana’s La tertulia del Café de Pombo (The Gathering at the Café de Pombo), shed some light on the gender inequalities on the intellectual scene in that era. The space in which the painting unfolds is not only domestic but also visually claustrophobic and mysterious — the artist spoke in an interview about how these four women reflect “human solitude and isolation”. Nevertheless, recorded in the work are also visual repertoires associated with the modern women of the time, who, via fashion and style, sought to identify themselves as independent and emancipated.

Raúl Martínez Arranz