  Pablo Etchevers
There is no doubt that meeting him means getting deep into the thoughts of the Argentinian gaucho. A man of the countryside fine arts, Miguel Ángel Gasparini invites everyone to understand rural men as a whole. |
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His drawings and paintings are all around the city. Whether a watercolor or an oil painting, done with a freehand technique using a marker or charcoal, the truth is that Miguel Ángel Gasparini has been painting gaucho themes on anything that has passed through his hands ever since he was a little boy. Everything from papers and books to murals and schools, this “painter of the Argentinian gaucho”, as he likes to be called, has gone a long way up to his atelier-museum called La Recova, where his work is displayed to tell visitors the history of San Antonio de Areco.
A Truly Argentinian Painter
And there we found him. In the company of mate and brushes, he was finishing up a horse and his rider for a gaucho that ordered that work “like 15 days ago” for his son’s birthday.
When asked how he came close to and became identified with the rural man, Gasparini points out:
“The thing is that ever since I’ve started painting, I’ve rescued the image of the gaucho with the highest respect and authenticity. I live with my fellowmen in Areco and I know what they think about, how they work, I share time with them around the fire pits, in the meetings, at the pulperías. I could say I paint the countryside because I experience it. I feel like a pictorial disciple of the Argentinian gaucho”, he ends up as he offers us a mate before the next question.
The atelier-museum is a real work of art from every point of view. He keeps a copy of the first edition of Don Segundo Sombra and another copy of Martín Fierro in Braille, illustrated with relief drawings made by Gasparini. But the main protagonist is a wall-to-wall mural where the history of San Antonio de Areco has been represented. No sooner do our eyes rest on it, than Gasparini begins to tell us the history of his land and the reason for each illustration.
It is not until the story ends that we fully understand the history of San Antonio de Areco and of its neighboring towns. “Those who know what they are searching for, will understand what they find”, are the words on the plate at the entrance of the atelier and, as we read this, we make a different interpretation. |
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But inside, stories continue and some of them are memorable and fascinating indeed. By now, almost a dozen tourists have congregated inside La Recova.
“…I learned to draw the horse by watching it everyday in the field. I studied its anatomy and movements, its muscles and I even assembled its skeleton… Self-taught, I made one effort after the other until I managed to enter the Fine Arts School, where I enhanced everything I had learned”, Miguel Ángel ends up saying as he makes it clear that today he teaches these same things to his students at the schools of San Antonio de Areco.
A Dream to Fulfill
The sun sets and the first lamps in the houses of Areco begin to turn on. La Recova is also lit, just like the uneven building opposite the street, called el boliche de Bessonart, where, according to Gasparini, don Segundo Sombra would order his drinks along with other gauchos.
“There are my models. Go inside and see what I mean”, he asserted with his eyes fixed on the corner and he finished his story with a wish he will surely fulfill during his life: “My dream is to paint the Argentinian gaucho all throughout the country: in Northern Argentina, in the South, in the littoral or the mountain. And I know I will do it some day”.
There is no doubt that don is not alone. It is just a matter of time. |
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Welcome Argentina - People & Characters in San Antonio de Areco
© 2003-2024 Total or partial reproduction forbidden. Derechos de Autor 675246 Ley 11723
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There was a time when Molina Campos immortalized the figure of the Argentinian gaucho on his Alpargatas calendars. Today, his steps have been followed by other folkloric painters all around the country. Miguel Ángel Gasparinni, along with other people from Areco, assure that as long as there is a gaucho and a horse, there will be a sensitive artist who will make them immortal.
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