Manolo Valdés - Menina

In partnership with Opera Gallery, Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg presents under the grand chandelier of the lobby, Reina Mariana, an iconic work by the artist Manolo Valdés.

2021 – Iron

Manolo Valdés
Born in Valencia in 1942, Manolo Valdés is one of the leading figures of contemporary Spanish art. Co-founder of the collective Equipo Crónica, he first made his mark with politically engaged painting before embarking on a solo career, boldly reinterpreting masterpieces of art history. From Velázquez to Matisse, and Picasso to Van Eyck, he revisits classical icons, giving them a striking modernity.

Based in New York since 1990, Valdés creates powerful works using raw materials such as iron, bronze, and marble. His monumental creations, exhibited in emblematic locations like Place Vendôme in Paris, dialogue with the world’s greatest museums, from the MoMA to the Centre Pompidou. Between painting and sculpture, Manolo Valdés builds a universal body of work where memory and innovation meet.

Reina Mariana
In the 1960s, during his first visits to the Prado Museum in Madrid, Valdés was deeply influenced by two iconic paintings by Diego Velázquez: the Portrait of Mariana of Austria (1652–53) and Las Meninas (1656). These works became a central source of inspiration throughout his career. From his early creations at art school to the present day, the artist has tirelessly revisited this instantly recognizable female figure across a wide variety of media.

The monumental Menina welcoming our guests in the lobby represents Queen Mariana of Austria, reinterpreted in iron and at life-size scale. Valdés emphasizes the character’s most iconic features—the panniered dress and elaborate hairstyle—which suffice to identify her, even as her facial features disappear. This deliberate absence invites reflection on the status of the portrait, as well as on the symbolic function of clothing as armor: beneath the sumptuous attire and the assertion of rank lies the fragility of a figure almost erased, absorbed by the weight of her status and reduced to the image of the power she embodies.

By exhibiting this monumental sculpture, we offer our guests a privileged encounter with a major work of art. It establishes a dialogue with the very history of the place: once a refuge for royalty at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the hotel was also a favored meeting place for the leading artists of modernity.

Opera Gallery Paris
62, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré – 75008 Paris
T +33 (0)1 42 96 39 00
paris@operagallery.com

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Extend your visit with a L’Infante or La Reine cocktail at the Bar du Faubourg.