Friday, September 18, 2009

Color in Valencia




Artists, lovers of color, and people who enjoy art supplies (not always the same folks), you will be happy to know that you have some delightful options in the old part of Valencia city to find a variety of art supplies, or fine art stores called Bellas Artes in Spanish. If you like to buy local products, Titan paints are made in Spain, as well as Greco and Escoda (www.escoda.com) paintbrushes.

Pedro Soriano is both an art supply store as well as a hardware store and has been serving Valencians since 1914. It sits on a street in the shadows of the Torres de Serranos (see R. Vidal listing) and is fun to venture into just to see the old drawers and displays that seem virtually unchanged for almost 100 years. Pedro Soriano, c/ del Serranos 25, Valencia; www.pedrosoriano.es; open Monday to Friday 9:00am to 1:30pm/4:00 to 8:00 pm; Saturday 9:30am to 1:00pm.

R. Vidal is a store overlooking the Turia Park and a couple of blocks from the Torres de Serranos, old towers that are grand remnants of when Valencia was a walled city. A full service art supply store with, among many other things, incredibly inexpensive, lightweight, folding, metal easels. R. Vidal, Blanquerias 8, Valencia; open Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 1:30pm/4:15 to 8pm; Sat 10:00 am to 1:00 PM

Casa Viguer is a narrow, packed-full store in an old building deep in the oldest part of the city and has been in operation since 1886! The windows proudly display pigments and other artist delights. Luis Viguer, Casa Viguer, c/ Corretgeria 22, Valencia; www.casaviguer.com; open Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 2:00 pm/4:30 to 8:00 pm, Saturday from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

Some must-reads for color lovers are:

Color: A Natural History of the Palette, Victoria Finlay, Random House 2004

Colors of the World: A Geography of Color, by Jean-Philippe and Dominique Lenclos

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