When he tried to define his work, and more especially that of the portraitist, Alejo Vidal-Quadras never called himself an artist but a craftsman, that is to say the one who "makes" and he refused "to create". Matisse already expressed the same idea when he said: "I don't create a woman, I make a picture". For Alejo Vidal-Quadras "no single truth exists in the art of portraits" Each artist has his own language: "Indeed, the portraitist is in a dual relationship with his model, this demands a great availability, you need to keep your ears open and concentrate intensely. We may speak of a real commitment.

To better seize his model, the painter makes her/him speak, so as to capture the expression of the face, however fugitive, the truest. "The portrait reflects personality outside of time. The painter hovers round the veracity of his model, observes, analyses, is impressed, reacts, slowly discovers and then chooses. The portraitist restitutes the inner presence. We are first of all interpreters". Of course, he cannot just make a simple copy, he must go beyond appearances and transmit something of the personality of his subject, sometimes even of his/her behaviour.

The fact that the portraitist enters, somehow, into the intimity of his model gives rise to people's curiosity and sometimes to indiscreet even absurd questions, to which Alejo Vidal-Quadras always replies with the elegance and discretion he was so well-known for:

Only the person is important to Alejo Vidal-Quadras; he sees the uniqueness in each person: a look, a smile, severity or light-heartedness. He captures this by having his model speak. What Yves Bonnefoy described as "the painter's task: not to stop at appearances, but to join a being in his/her absoluteness and his/her mystery". The sittings are short but intense. Once he has mentally seized his model's characteristics, his hand draws rapidly, giving the impression of great facility. The moment the model discovers her/his portrait always reveals a great intensity, "a real silence of falling snow," says the painter.

When Alejo Vidal-Quadras finished these sessions he was worn out, more from the concentration and implication of himself than by the drawing itself. He is a virtuoso, his rapid, precise, correct gestures avoided making numerous trials.

This talent plunges him into a real dilemma: he confesses that he is divided: "between total professionalism and the spontaneity of a certain dilettantism". Sometimes the picture loses quality if professionalism takes over. That is why he does not like to work too long on the same picture. He finds he must adopt one technique or an other according to the model, the inspiration, the moment.

Marcel Achard of the Academie française teased him about this, telling him he flattered his models: "You wear rose coloured spectacles!" In fact Alejo Vidal-Quadras is a good-hearted man; this can be seen in the painting of each of his models, it is the best of the individual that he has succeeded in capturing and restituting in a harmonious entirety. Each of his portraits fixes a person in that which is permanent, beyond the marks of time. This depth of vision has made his reputation worldwide, even if he is happy to repeat: "I am not famous: I enjoy a certain notoriety".

Alejo Vidal-Quadras also knew how to make the best possible use of a long tradition of portrait painting throughout different cultures and times. Dominique Lapierre, the writer, underligned this in the catalogue of the exhibition which took place in Versailles in May 1978: "You are going to be struck with admiration by the canvasses of this Spaniard of high lineage, whose work is simply gracefulness, distinction and sensitivity. First of all his portraits: one could say that through some kind of miracle, the great artists of the 17th and 18th centuries have taken refuge there, so much science of their drawings is mixed with the refinement of their colours".

Alejo Vidal-Quadras doesn't hesitate to travel when necessary to honour a commission. "As long as I can, I will continue to travel to my models, even if they are a long way away, to discover the truth that I have to translate, nothing can replace the person's environment. It's here that one reveals the best of oneself to oneself ...and to the painter.

It was never Alejo Vidal-Quadras' ambition to become the portraitist of famous people. In fact it was by word of mouth, the recognition of his style both classic and totally modern which has led him to paint all over the world, and which has given him his man about town reputation. He was not mundane, he was just a painter and a society man.

His models have recognized, unanimously, how he put them at ease. The sittings seemed like conversation times. He knew how to listen how to arouse reactions and replies. It was thus that he sometimes became the friend of those who had commissioned a portrait. In the draft of his memories which he has left us, he tells about some of these meetings, often with humour, always with sensitivity. "My first contact with the Spanish royal family was without any ceremonial procedure: a telephone call "Hallo, it's Maria" said a feminine voice. I tried, with difficulty to guess who this Maria was when she continued "My cousin, the Countess de Paris gave me your telephone number". I then understood that Maria was my Queen. Dona Maria de las Mercedes Borbón y Orleans, Countess of Barcelona. Thus was the queen - unaffected, like all her family, and this has won them the respect and affection of the Spanish".

I was to paint Isabelle, Henri, François, Helene Anne Diane, Michel, Jacques, Claude, Chantal and Thibault in two and a half months. All of them – from the eldest aged 24 to the youngest aged 5 – came discreetly to the sittings. On the schedule date, after the anniversary meal, the children left the room when coffee was served and reappeared each holding his/her portrait. The Count de Paris was surprised and very happy. Magazines celebrated the event and the portrait of Prince Thibault was on the cover of Paris-Match, whit the title “The conspiracy of the flying Heart” the name of the Count de Paris’ estate. Thus, France was able to discover the royal family in full force.

“Twice the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force commissioned a portrait of its supreme commander and honorary Colonel, Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Kent. The first portrait was to be exhibited at theirs headquarters, situated at a hour from London. For the circumstances I was invited together with Mr. Dawson, director of the Partridge Gallery in London. A charming group of woman offered us porto and asked us the best place to hang the portrait. The final decision was taken in good humour. How astonished we were then, as we were preparing to leave, to hear our hostess ask if we wished, before sitting off, to powder our noses… Inn front of our perplexed expressions, she added sotto voce: “in our feminine population it is discreet way to suggesting the use of the toilet before you leave”.

“Satisfied with the portrait of The Callas, Aristotle Onassis commissioned another rather particular portrait. He brought me a small naïve picture representing his mother, painted in Turkey, explaining that this was the only maternal image left to him. He had sadly lost his parents during his childhood. Thus he wanted the impossible, for me to paint a portrait from this small, vague picture.

	I began by refusing, he had an unexpected argument: “You have enough talent to paint a beautiful woman of this time. What does it matter about exact resemblance, precise memories of her face have become blurred for me, I was so young when she died. Take your inspiration from my daughter Christina and my sister, you will know to find a family likeness. I insist, do it for me”. I accepted the wager and undertook to paint the portrait of this mystical mother. He was very pleased with the image that I gave him to her: a pretty, pale woman with a dark and deep look, wearing a heavy chignon, dressed in blue satin and lace. Thus I restituted a mother to Aristotle Onassi. The portrait occupied a place of honour, for a long time, in his office.
Mrs. Aristotle Onassis
VILLES, PAYSAGES ET JARDINS SECRETS

Alejo Vidal-Quadras never laid down the law on painting, he preferred to paint. During one of his rare interviews, he did give his point of view in roundabout way. Thus we learn that his essential references were Velasquez, El Greco and Goya: They are the admirable synthesis of all painting both ancient and modern. All three unite the painter’s fundamental characteristics”.

He considered Spanish painting the best: “I believe that Spain is a country of painters thanks to the visual enjoyment that distinguishes all of us; the spectacular makes an impression on our sensitivity. Colours, lines movement, are essentially important to all Spaniards. Among today painters I appreciate particularly the qualities of Gutierrez Solana. One thing is sure: brilliant, good of just mediocre, the Spanish painter is always sincere.”

He also admired Rembrandt, Grünewald, Bosch, Giotto, Bronzino, Holbein, Carpaccio, Boticelli and Raphael, underlining: "It's the first three who attract me most". He qualified himself as "a realist expressionist". His still-life and his landscapes justify, admirably, this definition, linking him, quite evidently to Spanish pictorial tradition, in such paintings as the View of Toledo filled with the souvenir of EI Greco. When Jean-Louis Gazignaire from the Sygma agency asked him in July 1991, if he continued personal works outside portraits, Alejo Vidal-Quadras replied: "Absolutely. Flowers, landscapes, still-life, I take a rest from painting with painting. Portraits demand a great tension and an intense physical and psychological presence. The other pictures give me a moment of freedom of mind. But with me, everything is complementary, each form of painting helps the other to blossom". Indeed, all his life, Alejo Vidal-Quadras never stopped painting landscapes and still-life. "I was distinctly less well-known for this side of my art. This was due to the mysteries of the art market. Everything must have a label, even artists. Some of my first exhibitions presented portraits, of course, but also a variety of drawings and paintings of still-life which were not lucky enough to attract the dealers".

Paysage D'Espagne

Dominique Lapierre presenting Alejo Vidal-Quadras' exhibition, organized in May 1978 in Versailles, called attention to this particular side of the painter's art: "You who are also going to dream in front of the landscapes and still-life of Alejo Vidal-Quadras, should know that if these works are less well-known, it is because they belong to the secret treasure of a painter who is as fascinated by Toledo at sunset, or a basket of onions as he is by the eyes of a woman or the smile of a child".

A whole part of Alejo Vidal-Quadras' work is made up of a series of still-life - especially flowers and fruit - the beauty, the purety and the vivid colours of which fascinate the onlooker. The surprise effect, however, will not upset the spectator for long, as he will find himself in the presence of well-known themes and styles. Indeed, Alejo Vidal-Quadras has returned to the source of still-life, the Dutch tradition of the XVIIth century, borrowing its technical virtuosity, its themes and its chiaroscuros. The cut roses in the pewter drinking cup blend the velvetiness and density of their corollas with the rich sheen of the metal. Each petal is accurately rendered as are the shades created by the light on the cups.

The citrus fruits in the glasses renew the pronounced Dutch taste for transparency, likewise the brilliant way in which it is painted and its special way of suggesting light: the contrast shown between the smoothness of the glass and the thick, gritty skins of the oranges and quinces. But contrary to the Dutch tradition, no trace is to be found in the still-life of the memento mori that the fly, the wilted flower, the nibbled fruit, were supposed to symbolize in the composition. Here fruit and flowers glitter in the entirety of their shapes. To present them, the painter has chosen, most of the time, a niche or the edge of a table, at eye level, like those which made the works of Chardin famous. The isolation of the designs in space which shows them to their advantage is accentuated even more by the frame (chosen or even made by Alejo Vidal-Quadras himself) with its wide edges and ornamental mouldings (another reminiscence of Dutch painting of the Siècle d'or).

Sometimes, and such is the case of the "Fruits in a basket " or "the Three lemons " space perception is less well defined, the fruit seem to be in an unstable position on a slightly inclined plane. Here, they are on the same level as in the tradition inaugurated by Cezanne: the stroke of the brush itself is wider, more visible, accentuating the filiation. But whatever the chosen source, the intention belongs to Alejo Vidal-Quadras alone: fully exploiting the volumetrical, tactile, chromatic and luminous resources proper to fruits and flowers. One may only feel surprise in front of the compositions the painter is fond of: in one case, six different vases, each containing a flower, placed regularly on the three shelves of a showcase in another, three different shaped glasses each at the same distance from the others and surmounted by a lemon. Nothing less realistic than such compositions. It is the infinite elation of the visual possibilities of this kind that animates the paint brushes of Vidal-Quadras: stereoscopic volume seems to occupy the whole surface of the canvas." Two hibiscus in a blue vase", "A basket of onions" or to abolish the whole surface: "The round loafé"; deeply hollowed out space: "Three pears on a white cloth". As in a natural-science book, the painter decides to present fruit under different aspects. (a pear cut in half in front of two whole pears) or as in a watercolour by Dürer, to look at a flower with microscopical precision ("Red amaryllis").

The Three Lemon

The painter alternates the abundance of a bunch of camomile and the simplicity of the amaryllis, the opaque materials of the differently woven baskets and the shimmering surface of the plate containing a melon. The series of still-life with their dazzling virtuosity of "trompe l'æil". The painting is decorative, free from any intention other than that of asserting itself. This characteristic however, does not cut out anything from the letters patent of nobility of these pictures, since their variety make them a renewed pleasure for the eyes.