“El Greco, Gaudi and Dali… They were the creators of Spanish art and made me dream of traveling to Spain.
As I prepared for my trip, I searched and searched for the source of their creativity, something that could encompass each of their individual personalities.
Then one day, by chance, a person came to mind.
A wandering knight with the aspects of both a seeker and a madman.
It was Don Quixote.
I felt like I had discovered the most crucial topic that would permeate the entire trip, an important clue to the implications that could be applied to our times.
So from then on, my trip to Spain became a trip to meet Don Quixote.” --- p.5

El Greco always argued with his clients because he demanded high prices for his paintings.
This was both a way to preserve his reputation as a top painter and a way to satisfy his own desires.
After he became successful, he spent money lavishly, decorating his house extravagantly and buying luxury goods.
During meal times, he invited the best musicians to play music in the next room.
Even for such a luxurious life, he could not lower the price of his paintings.
Instead, I believed that if I painted unique and outstanding pictures that no one could follow, people would be forced to look for my pictures.
El Greco is also called the terminator of the Renaissance.
This is because he was a painter who grew up in the Byzantine world, but who absorbed all of Renaissance painting as his own while traveling through Venice and Rome.
After settling in Spain, he created unprecedented works based on this foundation, and became one of the most important painters in the history of Western art, providing endless inspiration to 20th-century expressionist painters.
--- p.133

Let us remember that Cervantes was very good at satire.
This passage contains an important message from the author.
It's about something we're losing.
We always put something in front of us and ask ourselves whether it is a 'princess or not'.
And then we put off doing the important things that really need to be done.
What if you have two children? What if you don't know each other?
The author says:
Our lives are at a standstill right now.
In other words, it is important to keep something in mind and ‘move forward’.
Military achievements, love, honor.
It doesn't have to be exactly this.
Anyway, we have to work harder, love more, and protect ourselves.
Then, Don Quixote, who was a false knight, grows into a true knight-errant.
And this is also the moment when the woman he had in mind transforms into the true Princess Dulcinea.
--- p.144

We have not yet encountered Velázquez's masterpiece.
[Maids].
This masterpiece, which is over 3 meters tall, is located in the center of the main hall of the Prado Palace.
This is Velazquez's room.
If you go in front of this painting, it will already be occupied by so many people that there will be no room to stand.
Because it is the painting that everyone who visits the Prado Museum wants to see the most.
The fame attached to this painting is truly remarkable.
First of all, this painting has been selected as one of the greatest works of art ever created by humans.
This was the result of a survey conducted by a British magazine about 30 years ago.
In that survey, which targeted art professionals rather than the general public, [Ladies and Men] confidently took first place, beating out [Mona Lisa] and others.
An anecdote about Picasso also contributed to the painting's fame.
It is said that Picasso was so inspired by this painting that he later created as many as 50 paintings based on this painting.
Even if we look at this work solely from a technical standpoint, its influence on later painters is enormous, but the reason it resonated so widely across culture lies elsewhere.
It is because it twists the relationship between the painter and the model, and between the painter and the audience, to a completely different level.
--- p.178

Around the time Gaudí debuted as an architect, a stage was being created in Barcelona where he could fully demonstrate his potential.
In times like these, we say that we met at the right time or that we were lucky.
There are two main reasons why he received help from the times.
One is the issue of livelihood.
As the construction market was at its peak, he had a lot of work to do.
The second is freedom.
Because there was a lack of excellent architects, Gaudí was able to push his ideas through in his relationship with the building owner.
Considering Gaudí's prickly personality, it is easy to understand how helpful these elements would have been.
But Gaudí's greatness cannot be explained simply by the fact that he met a good era.
He is not an architect who went with the times and lived with the flow.
Rather, he stood tall above his time, and thus transformed the city he lived in into a completely different city.
In that sense, he was the perfect Don Quixote --- p.272

After being expelled from Surrealism, Dali left these words:
“If there is one difference between the surrealists and me, it is that I am (the only) surrealist,” he said, expressing his convictions.
“I am only a Daliist.
It will be like that until I die.
I don't believe in any revolution.
“All I believe in is my qualities, nurtured in a great tradition.” The popularity Dali enjoyed at that time was beyond imagination.
Dali's retrospective held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1941 was a huge success, attracting a huge crowd.
André Breton gave this nickname to Dali, who was not picky about anything that would make money.
Avida Dollars (those who are hungry for dollars).
--- p.319

Think of Don Quixote, who has been silently waiting for you to look at him for a long time.
I hope to meet Don Quixote by any chance.
That's the beginning.
If you get to meet, have a private conversation.
The longer and deeper the time, the better.
Even if Sancho suddenly interrupts, try to calm him down and just focus on your conversation with Don Quixote.
Then, before long, you will be overcome by a very strange feeling.
It's a feeling of vagueness or deep regret.
These signals are very positive.
You are doing well.
I hope that you will come to this realization.
It's like the realization that I, who embrace Don Quixote, am a really good person.
Feelings of hope, excitement, and grandeur will soon fill your heart with courage, and you will begin to see the path you want to take, or the path you must take.
I really hope so.

--- p.361