Regional Government of Madrid pays tribute to Antonio Mingote by theming Rubén Darío underground station
The Regional Government of Madrid has decided to pay tribute to one of its most illustrious illustrators, Antonio Mingote, by theming Rubén Darío underground station with his striking illustrations and cartoons. Accordingly, the centenaries of the birth of both the illustrator and of Metro de Madrid, in 1919, will be commemorated. The station chosen is the closest to the historical home of the newspaper ABC in calle de Serrano, from where Antonio Mingote would publish his drawings from 1953 until his death in 2012.
The Regional Councillor of Transport, Housing and Infrastructure, Rosalía Gonzalo, accompanied by the widow of Antonio Mingote, who passed over the rights to the works on display to Metro de Madrid for this campaign, remarked in her visit to the station that “we sought to harness the coincidence of the birth of both of them to display to the people of Madrid the important legacy of this emblematic illustrator”.
Antonio Mingote, artist, writer and academic, was born in Sitges in 1919, later moving to Madrid to become one of the most important artists in Spain, spanning the 20th and 21st Centuries. As his widow recalled, “he also considered the underground to be one of the best ways to travel around Madrid, and many cartoons and drawings addressing this form of transport are part of his extensive work”.
Hence, Metro de Madrid decided to decorate the platforms and passages of Rubén Darío station, on line 5, with large-scale vinyl drawings with a series of illustrated cartoons related to this means of transport with the aim of all passengers using the underground being able to enjoy them. These illustrations and drawings belong to the ABC Drawing and Illustration Museum and to the Antonio Mingote Foundation.
ANTONIO MINGOTE AND METRO DE MADRID
This is not the first time that Metro de Madrid has publicised the work of Antonio Mingote. Back in October 1997, the artist and the underground united on the occasion of the inauguration in Retiro station of three tile murals in which the artist recreates scenes from this green park. In addition, since a large part of his work focused on urban mobility in general, and on Metro de Madrid in particular, in 2005 an exhibition was held in Nuevos Ministerios underground station with part of this material.
THEMING STATIONS
Metro de Madrid is developing a process whereby it is theming stations which, either due to the transformation process being carried out on the station, or due to different celebrations, are being decorated with the aim of improving the travel experience of the user and to spread and promote culture and leisure in Madrid.
For example, to commemorate Book Day, the platforms of line 3 at Plaza de España station were decorated with the complete works of Don Quixote de la Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes. The station was also decorated with 10 leading quotes and 13 engravings that contain different scenes from Don Quixote.
The Regional Government of Madrid has also themes La Latina underground station with historical and contemporary photos of El Rastro, the emblematic open air market that has been held on Sundays in the capital since 1740. In addition, Arroyofresno station is completely thematic, with pictures and illustrations of the Sierra de Guadarrama, due to its proximity to this national park. In order to theme the station, illustrations have been used of some of the mountain ranges in the park, as well as photographic material from the Document Fund of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park.
Line 1 has also been converted into the ‘Centenary Line’, with a permane
