Miguel Macaya

Painting acquisition in the electronic age...

Miguel Macaya's "Cebra". Oil on canvas. 195 x 215 cm.

The highly reliable Honourable Reader would not have missed a reference some months ago to this blogger of yours' thirst for a zebra painted by the Talented Mr Macaya. It was exposed in Jorge Alcolea's gallery just next door and a mix of financial timidity and relative poverty prevented me then from getting this "donkey-in-pajamas" trophy.

Around New Year a messenger from the gallery stopped me on the street, on my way to the konsular yellow house, and whispered: "Miguel is painting a new zebra... ". I thanked the blackdressed gallerista and said something about keeping me posted.

In the hectic week before my near-elopment I receive an e-mail with 1st of February as the date the huge canvass would be ready for my near medieval "First Night" rights. The very morning of the events I've depicted in the "The Russkaya Bride and the Blogger Groom etc, etc." vignette.. One can be excused for not remembering on time the need to pass by the neighbourly gallery...

Already speeding up on the motorway, at 200 plus whenever one gets distracted, I receive an SMS: "we will close for lunch now, when are you thinking of visiting us?". Damned! Total blank! I retrograde from sixth speed to fifth and phone the Art Vendeuse. Apologizing I suggest they e-mail me the photo of the painting with details of dimensions and price.

Later that evening my German friend ( Alzheymer..) prevented me from remembering the gmail password. I suggested, as an alternative, Vinniepoohra's mail.ru address. The trip went on. Again SMSs from speeding SUV to Madrid gallery with reports of failing servers. Finally the option of the e-mail address of Lutetia hotel was remembered.

So first enjoyment of latest zebra was purely electronical. Price overwhelmingly unattainable. Bargaining process started. All the time via SMS ( first abroad then back in Madrid). When the end game approached it was no longer the blackdressed staff girl but Jorge Alcolea himself who was answering the bids.

I did saw the painting at some point ( with the expert help of my Barça-based friend, Gonza, a talented painter himself who was making the annual migratory ritual of visiting Madrid's ArCo) but all the thousands euros nerve-wrecking stuff was done through mobile phones short messages service...

Will I buy the painting in the end? A little suspense makes wonders for the sitometer statistics...