I have a very keen interest in art and for some years now have run an online community for artists, Artforums.co.uk. So this picture is interesting as it combines two of my hobbies.

This picture was exhibited at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 2008. They said: “It is impossible to describe Antonio López García simply as a painter in the “realist” school. His masterful paintings of the prosaic, familiar places of his world and of the family and friends comprising it reveal an unusual sensitivity to his subject. Through uncompromising study of his subjects, he has imbued the commonplace with a haunting and extraordinary character, seen in his exceptional depiction of light—at once brilliant and subdued, ethereal and fleeting, and palpable.”

Of this picture one critic said: “Sink and Mirror is a combination of two paintings: the sink at bottom, the shelf with the mirror at top. Since the bathroom is narrow, the artist had to place himself very close to the subject, causing visual distortion of the vertical lines delineating the tiles. Rather than correct this, he has created a middle area, a sort of neutral band, in which the lines of the preliminary sketch are left visible as a record of process.”

What is for sure is that it shows the accoutrements of real, traditional shaving. A double edged razor, a shaving stick and brush, a couple of blades and some aftershave. All  very typical of 1967 when it was painted.