Castle Coca, Spain

Castle Coca, Spain is a 1927 drypoint print that depicts the Castillo de Coca, in central Spain. The castle, a masterpiece of brick Mudejar (Moorish Muslim) and Gothic architecture, dates from the 15^th century. The castle appears as old as the hills, permanent and unchanging. Lindsay has somewhat exaggerated its sloping site to emphasise the dramatic setting. His choice of a viewpoint is interesting. We appear to look down at a party of travellers, two men, one on horse (or donkey) back, and another on foot, who accompany a cart pulled by five more donkeys. In turn, we look up at the castle itself. In the foreground there are some large shaded rocks and bushes, depicted with a heavy, smudgy line. The darkness of these rocks is echoed in the imposing castle. Nearer the castle itself, a peasant is tending sheep, drawn in a light, insubstantial line. To the left of the castle, a cloud is blown by the wind.

Lionel Lindsay loved drawing Spanish landscapes and landmarks, especially because they gave him the opportunity to vistas which seemed timeless. He was ardently opposed to industrialisation and loved Spain particularly because it appeared to have remained unchanged from the time of Don Quixote.

Although nobody could have anticipated it in 1927, revolutionary change was coming to Lindsay’s beloved Spain. Tensions around the place of the church and the aristocracy, city and country, democracy and rule by decree, all reached tragic breaking point in 1936, with the advent of the Spanish Civil War. That peasant or farmer in the middle distance was perhaps not as inconsequential as Lindsay had made him appear, though very likely he would have been on the side of the Nationalists.

There are three impressions of this print in Te Papa's collection; two (including this one) were donated by the widow of London art dealer, Harold Wright, and the third, which preceded them in its gifting, came from Wright's good friend, Wellington collector and philanthropist Sir John Ilott.

Sources:

Bernard Smith, ‘Lionel Lindsay', Australian Dictionary of National Biography, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lindsay-sir-lionel-arthur-7756

Wikipedia, ‘Castillo de Coca’, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_Coca

Dr Mark Stocker     Curator, Historical International Art    July 2018