María Blanchard

A wealthy client knocks on the door of the most mysterious painter in Paris, a Spanish girl with the appearance of a little girl who lives shut up in her studio that she only leaves at dusk to walk hidden in the shadows. The buyer wants the painter to reproduce a portrait that she made of her mother a long time ago and that is one of the most beloved memories of her childhood. She flatly refuses, does not plan to waste her time with ruins from the past ... The Paris of the bohemia of the early twentieth century brought together an immense army of illustrious artists, novelists, poets, musicians and painters who revolutionized the art world. One of these geniuses was a woman: María Blanchard, a cubist painter, a close friend of Picasso, Juan Gris and Diego Rivera who, like a shadow, went almost unnoticed despite her undeniable originality and the indelible mark she left on the artistic avant-garde. Through a moving story, full of intrigue and emotion, that combines real elements with other fictional ones, "María Blanchard: como una sombra" recreates the human trace and artistic work of this unique painter, reconstructing her unique vision of painting , as a form of spiritual retreat, and offering details of an overflowing humanity that brought him closer to the outcasts of society, beggars, prostitutes, the poor and crippled, whom he opened the doors of his house, fed, sheltered and portrayed with sensitivity and respect. With this new historical novel, Baltasar Magro approaches the forgotten Spanish artist María Blanchard (1881-1932), a cubist painter who lived in bohemian Paris in the early 20th century. A story that recreates her life: «The greatest and enigmatic painter in Spain», according to Ramón Gómez de la Serna. A wealthy client knocks on the door of the most mysterious painter in Paris, a Spanish girl with the appearance of a little girl who lives shut up in her studio that she only leaves at dusk to walk hidden in the shadows. The buyer wants the painter to reproduce a portrait she made of her mother a long time ago and which is one of her dearest childhood memories. She flatly refuses, does not plan to waste her time with ruins from the past ... The Paris of the bohemia of the beginning of the 20th century brought together an immense army of illustrious artists, novelists, poets, musicians and painters who revolutionized the art world. One of these geniuses was a woman: María Blanchard, a cubist painter, a close friend of Picasso, Juan Gris and Diego Rivera who, like a shadow, went almost unnoticed despite her undeniable originality and the indelible mark she left on the artistic avant-garde. Through a moving story, full of intrigue and emotion, that combines real elements with other fictional ones, "María Blanchard: como una sombra" recreates the human trace and artistic work of this unique painter, reconstructing her unique vision of painting , as a form of spiritual retreat, and offering details of an overflowing humanity that brought him closer to the outcasts of society, beggars, prostitutes, the poor and crippled, whom he opened the doors of his house, fed, sheltered and portrayed with sensitivity and respect