Hyperreal Madrid

Antonio López arrived in Madrid at age 14 from his home town of Tomelloso (Ciudad Real). With him, he carried the advice of his uncle, the painter Antonio López Torres, and an unequivocal decision to become a painter.

After settling into a boarding house in the old Los Austrias part of town, López learned the basics of drawing at the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, and went on to master artistic technique as few other people have done. The city of Madrid, Greek art and his friends from that period in his life all became a part of the artistic world of Antonio López, now renowned for his hyperrealistic paintings that look like photographs.

This world constitutes the core of the López retrospective at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, inaugurated in late June by the king and queen. The 130 works on display summarize a very personal way of looking at art that has made López, now 75, one of the most beloved artists in recent decades.

His last retrospective in Spain had taken place in 1993 at the Reina Sofía Museum. Later, in 2008, the Fine Arts Museum in Boston organized a show that became a social and artistic event (even Ted Kennedy attended), and included part of López's latest work. And though it is true that the artist's legendary slowness gives his work a scarce market presence, it is no less true that he is always excited by new projects.

The sculpture La mujer de Coslada (or, The woman from Coslada) joins the two areas into which the show is divided. In part one, the subject matter is the city (Madrid and Tomelloso), trees - predominantly fruit trees, including his famous Membrillero or, Quince tree - and the human figure.

Madrid and its popular street of Gran Vía in the 1970s share wall space with other views of the city such as Madrid desde Torres Blancas (or, Madrid from Torres Blancas) and one of his most recent paintings of the capital: Madrid desde la torre de bomberos de Vallecas (1990-2006) (or, Madrid from the firefighter station tower in Vallecas), which portrays an unsettling inhumanity.

In part two of the show, paintings small and large depict his grandparents, his parents, his daughters, his friends and his acquaintances, with special attention paid to his wife, the artist María Moreno.

On top of that, the exhibition also includes more recent works from López's workshop, giving gallery visitors an idea of the multiple projects that still form part of the painter's daily life.

Antonio López . Until September 25 at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Paseo del Prado 8, Madrid. 902 760 511. www.museothyssen.org