Besides going to class I had joined the Círculo de Bellas Artes, which had a large building with a movie theater, a cafe, an auditorium, and drawing studios on the top floor. Two or three times a week I attended figure drawing sessions from 6 to 9 p.m. I was not a great draughtsman, but determined not to lose the ground that I had gained in art classes as an undergrad in the United States. I was there on the 23rd of February when the Spanish Army and the paramilitary police called the Guardia Civil attempted to overthrow the Spanish government.