As
Alejo Vidal-Quadras explained to the magazine Vogue, "caricature
is the logical consequence of portrait painting. Indeed, each
portraitist feels a real synthetic itch. A little humour, a little
mischievouness make them lay stress on the most characteristic
features of a face or body. Bringing out the contrasts is a real
joy to the painter's eye and the hand follows with jubilation,
with large rapid strokes. Personally, I cannot resist this pleasure,
it's a rest, a breathing space. In the calm of my studio, from
memory, I sketch my victims, exaggerating personality, but never
wounding their dignity. It's probably my naughty side, it is also
a safety valve for the concentration necessary to the work of
a portraitist. It is a balance."
Many
critics have underligned this aspect of Alejo Vidal-Quadras' talent:
his memory and facilities are phenomenal. "A quick eye, an
agile hand, a sharp mind and sense of humour which stops on the
edge of unkindness, what more is needed to make caricature an
art? If the caricaturist is a man of the world, living amongst
those he observes, the stroke of his pen acquires an accent of
truth which makes him the witness of his times, Vidal-Quadras
with his pen, writes in his own manner the chronicle of his time."
