Juan Manuel Bonet, A Life Well Lived

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Fernando Castillo

There is nothing more difficult than writing about someone close to you without falling into excessive praise, especially when admiration is compounded by affection and elective affinity, which sustain friendship. However, there are instances where one must yield to the recommendation of Eugenio d’Ors—always the inevitable d’Ors, our own Oscar Wilde—and, to paraphrase him, note that, just as one visits museums to admire, in this article we shall set out to praise. With that said, it is time to speak of Juan Manuel Bonet, born in Paris to a French mother who was also a translator of Paul Morand. Bonet is often introduced as an art critic, exhibition curator, and poet—titles which, while accurate and substantial, have always seemed insufficient to define someone who, aside from turning everything into literature, has been a central figure in the world of Spanish art and museums over the past half-century. Since his youth, Bonet has been devoted to lists and dictionaries. The “Bonetian” method is inseparable from the notion of the index card, which in his case is more than just a method; it is almost a concept that permeates his written work, exhibitions, his numerous newspaper and magazine articles, and even his obituary sketches. These latter pieces serve as an excuse to craft a micro-essay on the individual and their context, drawn from alphabetical entries.

Bonet’s interests are as varied as they are interconnected, akin to a tangle of cherries. Thus, for those of us familiar with both the man and his work—so vast it would be impossible to even summarise in a text like this—none of it comes as a surprise. In Juan Manuel Bonet, one finds erudition, as has been repeatedly said, but above all, a modernity that leads him, in a back-and-forth process, from the historical avant-garde to contemporary art, from poetry to photography. His journey begins in the heroic seventies with the now-revived Sevillian Equipo Múltiple alongside Quico Rivas, when he emerged as a precocious art critic for El Correo de Andalucía, where his father, the esteemed Antonio Bonet Correa, oversaw the art pages. He later directed the IVAM (Valencian Institute of Modern Art), leaving a distinctive mark that he replicated at the MNCARS (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía), securing a fortunate legacy. All unified by the core essence of the book, exemplified by a grand library that truly represents a work in progress. It encapsulates his interests and serves as a constant source of inspiration. Thanks to Bonet, the disparaged medium of paper—books, magazines, prints, and, most notably, posters—as well as undervalued photography, dismissed photomontage, and illustration, the set designs and signatures—both well-known and somewhat lesser-known—from the Spanish, European, and American avant-garde entered Spanish museums under his influence.

JBM’s areas of activity are numerous, but none as significant as his contribution to the recovery of Spanish avant-garde, a task he undertook alongside Jaime Brihuega, Valeriano Bozal, Eugenio Carmona, and Juan Pérez de Ayala—a crucial ensemble for understanding Spanish art during the Silver Age and beyond. In this regard, it is essential to mention his indispensable Diccionario de las vanguardias en España, as well as, in my personal opinion, the exemplary Alicante moderno, a work that ought to have been replicated in every Spanish province. His text El poeta como artista, dedicated to painter-writers and writer-painters, and the small gem that is his essay for the exhibition catalogue La pintura del 27 at the Guillermo de Osma gallery, are also worth noting.

One must also highlight Bonet’s dismissive attitude towards his own writing, as a significant portion of his oeuvre consists of prefaces, lectures, and texts for exhibition catalogues. Of those dedicated to artists particularly close to him, mention should be made of José Guerrero, Helmut Federle, Morandi, Manolo Millares, Alex Katz, Ramón Gaya, Oramas, Díaz Caneja, Bernard Plossu, and Tarsila do Amaral, among others. JBM has also brought vital insight to many Spanish artists of his generation, an endless roster from which figures like Miguel Ángel Campano, Albacete, Dis Berlín, Luis Palmero, Charris, Sicre, Pelayo Ortega, Damián Flores, Galano, Mezquita, and Aquerreta stand out. It would be remiss not to mention his dedication to Erik Satie or Morton Feldman, both significant influences in his poetics, as is the Peruvian poet José María Eguren. All of these contributions form a scattered body of work, the review and gathering of which will be a challenge for future researchers on Juan Manuel Bonet.

Bonet’s centres of life and work are numerous and inseparable from his oeuvre. First, there is Seville, where he was formed as part of the Equipo Múltiple, alongside figures such as Cansinos Assens and Lasso de la Vega. Then, there is the ancestral, ultraist Lugo of his great-uncle Evaristo Correa Calderón and Ronsel. Madrid, of course, is essential—Ramonian and central to Buades, Entregas de la Ventura, Estación Central, the MNCARS, and the Cervantes Institute, as well as his long-standing connection with ABC, to which he has been loyal for decades. Then there’s the IVAM in Valencia, and Alicante, golden in the last century; the nearby Lisbon of Almada Negreiros; Krakow, with its poetry and family ties; Buenos Aires, and most notably Montevideo, two Rioplatense hubs that have long captivated him. Later came Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, gateways to his passion for Brazil. And finally, his native Paris, to which he returned as director of the Cervantes Institute, immersed in the works of Cortázar and Rayuela, in Modiano and the Occupation—yet another shared passion—and the city’s Spanish presence, exile, his Valery Larbaud, Henri Michaux, and his close friend Xavier Valls… For decades, Juan Manuel Bonet has taught us how to travel and see cities through his model of a diary, La ronda de los días (The Round of Days), which, though much more than just a diary, is an extraordinary little octavo volume that has served as inspiration and model to many over the past three decades. These cities are at the heart of his poetry, which is also a form of travel writing, as evidenced by works such as Café des exilés, Praga, Postales, Polonia-Noche, and the particularly close-to-my-heart Nord-Sud. In essence, this is, distilled like a hearty Bovril, Juan Manuel Bonet.

Source: educational EVIDENCE

Rights: Creative Commons