The Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles and the Zaragozan artist José Miguel Palacio, signed an agreement in which Palacio, gives to the institution his work ‘Altaria entering the Puerta de Atocha Station’ for a period of five years. This work, an oil on canvas 195 x 130 cm. and presided over the exhibition “The Railway in Art, Prints and Paintings of the nineteenth to twenty-first century”, which was held in April 2008 at the Railway Museum.
Jaime Barreiro Gil, managing director of the Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles, and the artist from Zaragoza, José Miguel Palacio, have signed a collaboration agreement at the foundation’s headquarters, located in the Palacio de Fernán Núñez, with the aim that the work ‘Altaria, entering the Puerta de Atocha Station’, can be exhibited for a period of five years at the foundation’s headquarters. This is intended to stimulate interest and research on the past and recent history of one of the most important industries in our country and, at the same time, the influence that the Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles has had on the creation of art, thus placing its documentary collections at the service of the city.
The joint agreement of both parties serves to contribute and increase knowledge and sensitivity in the fields of our history and that of the railroad, delving into the significance and impact it may have had on the population and urban centers, until reaching the high speed, as well as to investigate the progress and knowledge of our researchers and engineers in this type of transport to the present day.
It is an attractive way to reinforce the dissemination and heritage value of our historic-artistic collections on the national and international scene. The agreement, which is valid for five years, will hopefully be the beginning of a collaboration that will generate exhibitions, publications, seminars and workshops for the public interested in the evolution of this medium, in which Spain is one of the most advanced countries and full of possibilities.
About the Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles
The Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles is responsible for the recovery, custody and dissemination of the historical, cultural, scientific and technological railway heritage. It was established on February 20, 1985 by the National Network of Spanish Railways (RENFE) -currently split into Renfe Operadora and Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF)- and Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha (FEVE). Since 2002 it has been a State Public Sector Foundation. Its board of trustees is composed, in addition to the three aforementioned, by EuskoTren, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana, Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca, Metro de Madrid, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, Euskal Trenbide Sarea, Agencia de Obra Pública de la Junta de Andalucía, INECO, TIFSA , Asociación de Acción Ferroviaria, Asociación Española de Fabricantes Exportadores de Material, Equipos y Servicios Ferroviarios, Asociación de Empresas Constructoras de Ámbito Nacional, Asociación de Empresas Constructoras de Ámbito Nacional, Asociación de Empresas Constructoras de Ámbito Nacional and Asociación de Empresas Constructoras de Ámbito Nacional.
The Fernán Núñez Palace is one of the most valuable and best preserved nineteenth-century buildings in the heart of Madrid, next to the southern vertex of the triangle formed by the Prado Museum, the Thyssen Museum and the Reina Sofía Art Center.
About José Miguel Palacio
José Miguel Palacio, born in Zaragoza in 1950, hyperrealist plastic artist, develops his activity in the field of painting, photography and sculpture. Numerous paintings and monuments in public spaces and institutions endorse his work, participating and being present in a large number of exhibitions.
His painting shows signs of great mastery and skill. In it he likes to reflect everyday scenes of Madrid, his interests speak of current events and movement.
In addition to his deep love for painting Palacio, he also has a special interest in the study and knowledge of the history and evolution of this our/his country, in its people, its lands, towns and its infrastructures and among the latter, in the great social impact and economic growth that meant the breaking of barriers and spaces with the birth, expansion and splendor of the railroad. All of this is reflected in his project “Alta Velocidad, la metamorfosis de un país” (High Speed, the metamorphosis of a country).
For all this, each of his works is the result of a deep study of the instant and the detail, to capture the course of time where the heartbeat of the city is trapped in its streets, the traffic, people of different ethnicities, the expression of a bus driver, or the fall of a leaf, reflected in the windows of the city.
Link: http://www.iberarte.com/index.php/artes-plasticas/pintura/5733-el-altariaa-emprende-su-viaje
