There is a look in Antonio's eyes. It is a look of wisdom, but not a solemn wisdom, but as if, as he looks at you, he is saying: "when you go, I have already returned", and you, irremediably, know that this is so. A look of mischief, of playfulness.
 
Being with him, I could glimpse certain moments in which a great display of simplicity and honesty appeared. Antonio revealed himself to me as a happy teacher, with the burden that all experience exerts, of course; with the rucksack that, despite having been emptied of almost everything unnecessary, still contains some perennial weights.
 
Antonio loves skulls. His muses are las caninas, skeletons that he turns into pure allegories by dressing them up with various objects and placing them in fantastic settings. In this portrait, I also decided to place the so-called 'butterfly of death'. It is actually a moth, a moth very common in Spain, which, despite its obscure name, is completely harmless. It was so called because of the pattern on its back, which resembles a human skull with some crossed bones. It was the perfect butterfly for this painting. Enigmatic like Antonio, mysterious but innocuous, fascinating and magnetic like him. And, moreover, with the symbol on its body that makes the greatest reference to the master's own imagination.
 
Generosity and cunning, roguery and vulnerability. This is how I have perceived the light of Antonio García Villarán, and this is how I have tried to reflect it in this portrait.
 
Oil on wood panel.
65x54 cm.
June 2024