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Postcard from Valladolid, Spain: Plateresque architecture competes with sculpture within

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Above, Isabelline Plateresque details surround the courtyard of Colegio de San Gregorio in the complex serving as Museo Nacional de Escultura.

The National Sculpture Museum is housed in three historic landmarks clustered together in one block in Valladolid.

With the nationalization of convents and monasteries in 1836, the government of Spain seized a wealth of artistic treasures in need of housing. Many of those from the region of Castile first went on display in Valladolid in 1842 in the Colegio de Santa Cruz. In 1933, the collection was designated a national one and was moved to the Colegio de San Gregorio.

The exterior of the 15th-century building is characterized by intricate sculptural reliefs in the Isabelline Plateresque style. The gorgeous façade demonstrates a complete lack of a uniform theme – resulting in a fascinating hodgepodge of biblical and secular components with an abundance of putti and floral and vine-like flourishes intertwined among them.

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Postcard from Oaxaca, Mexico: Santiago’s ‘Migrants’ and protesters haunting MACO

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Above, nine “migrants” from Alejandro Santiago’s “2501 Migrantes” haunt a balcony inside Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, MACO

There is a Zapotec saying…. “Why leave when you have it all here?”

Alejandro Santiago in 2501 Migrants: A Journey, directed by Yolanda Cruz, 2010
two of alejandro santiago's 2501 migrantes

“Returning to his native Mexican village after many years, the artist was startled by what he didn’t see. ‘Where are my friends, my relatives?’ Alejandro Santiago asked the remaining residents of the town, Teococuilco de Marcos Perez, in a remote mountain area of Oaxaca state. Upon learning that most of them migrated from southern Mexico to the United States in search of work, he vowed to honor the departed and ‘repopulate’ his impoverished hometown.”

“Alejandro Santiago dies at 49,” Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2013

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Postcard from Burgos, Spain: A few parting impressions

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Above, pollarded plane trees framing Paseo del Espolon

The Scarecrow, who was in the lead, walked forward to the tall tree where there was an opening to pass into, but just as he came under the first branches they bent down and twined around him, and the next minute he was seized by the long branches and raised from the ground and flung headlong among his fellow travelers.”

The Wonderful World of Oz, L. Frank Baum, 1900

Remove the brilliant blue sky from the picture, and these trees appear as frighteningly eerie as those in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The severe winter haircut, pollard, of these relatives of American sycamores lining Burgos’ beautiful Paseo del Espolon reaps a huge reward for pedestrians. The trimming encourages the trees to produce a dense canopy of green leaves shading all who pass below throughout the summer, and whimsical-shaped topiaries soften the impact during the winter months.

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