Sol sola (Sol alone)

Portraying an artist in action is something Antoni Miró has done on multiple occasions. Gades, Montllor or, as in this case, Picó, among others, have been the subject of his pictorial creations. He incorporates them into an extensive list of characters to whom he has been paying tribute for a long time, which is made up of a wide spectrum of writers, intellectuals, artists, politicians, etc., whom he greatly admires. This specific work is integrated into the “Suite Alcoi”, which recognises the contribution many artists from the town have made in various disciplines, such as, in this case, dance.

In this painting by Miró, a great ballerina, also from Alcoi, Sol Picó, appears before us, as the title indicates, on her own. Stripped of everything, but, at the same time, in all her splendour. Beyond the play on words in the work’s title, the painter tries to show the essence of a special self-contained movement. The dancer, at a specific moment in time, turns in on herself, emphasising an intimate idea of unity. This immense solitude, this fleeting situation that has been immortalised, nevertheless contains the full potential that will undoubtedly be realised in the next movement.

Posed on a simulated floor and before a wall that is also artificial, as indicated by the shadow and the edge along which both planes meet, the model is represented at precisely this specific moment. The thoroughness with which the figure is painted contrasts with the speed with which the background is approached. The complexity of the posture demands multiple foreshortened perspectives and careful nuancing of the illumination on the various aspects of the body. Only the definition of the hair deviates slightly from its real-life appearance.

The difficulty of capturing the beauty of something that happens before us for only a very brief instant is evident as is the even greater difficulty of its artistic representation. The latter leads to a situation that allows us to enjoy, in every detail, something that we cannot appreciate to its full extent in reality.

Santiago Pastor Vila