Mijas honours Alan Burden, one of its most popular artists

The folk museum (Casa Museo) in Mijas Pueblo is preparing to host an exhibition of paintings by Alan Burden, an English artist who lived in the town from 1983 until his death last year. The collection, which can be viewed from Friday 4 until Monday 21 August, will include landscape scenes of the Sierra de Mijas that the artist produced while living in the town that he came to love and whose residents welcomed him with open arms.

Alan moved to Mijas from the UK with his partner Stephanie, whom he married in Gibraltar two years after arriving in the town. Alan had worked as an art teacher in England, and he continued teaching at the Sunny View school in Torremolinos, and also in the Centro de Artes in Mijas Pueblo.

"We chose Mijas to live as it was known as an artists' village. When we came it was a new democratic society and the town hall was trying very hard to restore the town's culture, which interested Alan. He was greatly influenced by the landscape of Andalucía and wanted to capture the vastness and the greatness of the mountains," Stephanie told SUR in English.

Born in 1938, Alan studied art and design, then went on to study art education at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, receiving a diploma in Art Education. He taught art from 1967 to 1983, although he became disillusioned with the educational system, which instigated his decision to move to Andalucía.

Alan exhibited his work constantly in the UK, and also in America, Holland, Portugal, Germany and some of the major cities throughout Spain. He employed acrylic or watercolour paints with a subtle underlay of relief and more loosely applied texture. His prime interest was in the forms derived from mountain landscapes. Although a native of southern England, his earlier works were taken from the Highlands of Scotland and the wilder parts of north-east England. Since taking up residence in Mijas, his works focused on the wonders of Spanish landscape, although he also had a love for jazz.

"Another great passion of Alan's was jazz. He used to love to go to Ronnie Scott's when he lived in Essex, and he did a series of portraits called Icons, which included many of his heroes," Stephanie said.

He also developed a love of Spanish artists, especially Velázquez, who he claimed was well before his time.

"His favourite artist in this country was Velázquez. When we went to Madrid, he was absolutely bowled over when viewing his work. He also loved Sorolla and made a point of visiting the Sorolla Museum every time we went to Madrid: he loved the light and freedom in his work," Alan's proud widow explained.

In one of the many interviews he gave to the media, Alan described his work as "figurative", claiming that his work, "containing as it does geometrical symbols and using a form of perspective close to the oriental method, moves very much towards the abstract".

His interest with Gestalt ideas on perception caused him to search for the abstract fundamentals within the figurative framework of his paintings.

The Gestalt theory is widely used in psychotherapy and problem solving, but it has also become popular as one of the most attractive psychological approaches for people who believe that the way of being, behaving and feeling cannot be reduced only to what is directly observable or measurable.

However, it was not only Alan's art that made him stand out, as he was extremely popular with other artists on the coast, one of whom was close friend Ernst Kraft, who said Alan's "creativity, personality and generosity left an indelible mark on my life".

"As well as being a talented artist, Alan had a knack for storytelling with seriousness, mockery or humour. We enjoyed great moments together. He always managed to see things from a unique perspective, being a captivating and an extremely intelligent and erudite human being," Ernst said.

The exhibition in Mijas is organised by Alan's stepdaughter, Sandra, who explained that the idea to show, and hopefully sell, some of his art is something she felt compelled to arrange.

"Before my stepfather died, we had a conversation about what he wanted us to do, and he said that the only thing he wanted was for his art to be on people's walls, and not piled high in his studio, which is where they have been since he died. This show, which will include a mixture of his landscapes and his jazz paintings, is an honour to him, because it was his final wish," Sandra explained.

The exhibition can be viewed from Monday to Sunday between the hours of 10am and 7pm.