Queen Sofía of Spain has been a patron of the Spanish Association of Painters and Sculptors since 1964, and on the night of Wednesday, she undertook a rare engagement to hand out the Queen Sofía Awards for Painting and Sculpture.
Her Majesty arrived at Casa de Vacas, located inside Madrid’s Parque del Buen Retiro, with the Secretary-General for Culture and Sports Víctor Francos, the President of the Spanish Association of Painters and Sculptors José Gabriel Astudillo López and the Director for Public Policies and Institutional Relationships for Google Spain and Portugal Miguel Escassi.
Queen Sofía presided over the ceremony in the Salón de Actos (or Event Room), awarding the final prize to sculptor José Manuel Martínez Pérez, who won for his piece titled Spring 2020. Homage to old age.
Her Majesty also handed out certificates to the other four finalists: Mikel Pinto Muñoz, a painter that entered the awards with his portrait The last of the council; Lorna Benavides, a sculptor that entered the awards with her abstract marble piece called Praise of youth; César Orrico, a sculptor who entered the awards with a bronze statue titled Two-Faced; and Lidia Sancho, a painter who entered the awards with her painting Other sun.
At the end of the awards ceremony, Queen Sofía toured the exhibition connected to the Association, made of 72 pieces, among which there was the winner’s sculpture and the four finalists’ statues and paintings.
Those 72 pieces are the result of a selection made by the jury of the awards, presided over by Queen Sofía, among more than 400 works from the Spanish-speaking world and from countries like China, Germany, or Italy.
The Queen Sofía Awards for Painting and Sculpture are organised by the Spanish Association of Painters and Sculptors in collaboration with Google Spain and Portugal.
Her Majesty has long been a champion of the arts and the cultural world, and her appearances at exhibitions, concerts or literary events are countless.
