Most Influential Spanish Painters

Not until I started to research this topic did I realize how very fortunate we are in Spain to have had so many famous artists for us to enjoy. They have left their gifts and talents over the centuries. These artists illustrate the culture and history that makes up Spain and its people today.

Let’s take a potted look at them in turn.  These artists have contributed so much in very different styles that it would be impossible to cover them in detail.

It is interesting to note how one has influenced the other over the centuries.

I do hope that if you live in Spain or plan to travel to Spain that you will endeavour to visit some otheir birthplaces and museums.

C16  El Greco

El Greco

Born in Crete. He moved to Toledo in 1577  under the reign of Phillip 11

He produced many famous altar pieces in Toledo.

1586 ‘Burial of Count Orgaz’ for the church of Santa Tome in Toledo.

Unfortunately for El Greco he was not the King’s taste so royal patronage and the wealth that went with it avoided him.

His style was highly emotional and he influenced many young artists.

C17 Diego Velázquez. 1599-1660

Veázquez

Velázquez is much loved by the Spanish. Not much of his work was known in Spain until the early C20 because much was stolen by the French during the French invasion.

He was born in Seville and lived around Andalucía for most of his young life

He is famous for his religious paintings and occasional mythical scenes.

As a leading artist in the court of King Philip IV.  He became important as a portrait artist of the Spanish Royal Family.

His most famous painting must be his masterpiece Las Meninas (English: The Maids of Honor.) (link) 1656 which hangs in the Prado. Margaret Theresa, eldest daughter of the new queen, appears to be the subject. The artist himself is also in the front of the picture. This was created 4 years before his death and is an outstanding example of the Baroque style.

He moved to Madrid in 1624 on the wishes of the king, who paid for his move.

In 1624 he went to Italy for a year. On route he bought paintings by Titian, Tintoretto. It was here that he developed his skill for painting portraits.

His second visit to Italy was in 1649. He set sail from Malaga landing in Gerona and onwards to Venice. It was here he painted one of his best portraits, Pope Innocent X

He was summoned to return to Spain in 1651 by the King. After visiting Naples he returned to Spain via Barcelona bringing with him many paintings and sculptures.

The Spanish were not accustomed to nude sculptures so few of these appear to have survived. Velazquez only survived the Spanish inquisition because of his royal patronage. Only one of his nude paintings remains, ´Venus at her Mirror´ in the National Gallery, London.

He was not one of the most prolific artists but was loved and admired by contemporaries.

Much of his work can be admired in the Prado in Madrid.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. 1617-1682

Murillo Self Portrait

He was born in Seville at a time when it was a city of great commercial importance, more than Madrid.

Prior to C19 he was the most know artist in Spain.

He was for a long time forgotten but in the C20 he returned to favour and has been hailed as one of the best painters ever.

His parents died young and he was fortunate to have a wealthy guardian who encouraged him to develop his art. Much of his work was painted on linen because this was cheap at that time.

He is best known for his religious paintings. One has to remember that Spain was a staunch Catholic country and had a great influence on art and patronage was important for the artists to survive.

Murillo was influenced greatly by Flemish painting and other painters of influence because Seville was such an important centre at the time.

Reubens taught him to use warmer tones and richer colours, which were brilliant for highlighting.

In 1642 he went to Madrid where he was influenced by Velázquez and other Flemish masters. He loved the rich colours in their paintings and incorporated them into his work.

On his return to Seville in 1645 he painted 13 canvases for St.  Francisco el Grande en Seville.

After his pictures for Seville Cathedral he began to paint themes that brought him most success like The Immaculate Conception in the Prado and Virgin and Child in the Walker Museum, Liverpool

Influenced again by Reubens his style began to change. He studied beggars in the streets

Murillo was a prolific painter and he always drew, in preparation for his paintings. He used these drawings to work our any problems of composition, light and shade.  Unfortunately, he didn’t sign or date his paintings and so there were many copies of his work. In 1779 a decree was issued that no more of his works were to be taken from Spain.

Fruit Sellers

He was able to bring so much light to the faces he painted.

C18 Goya 1746-1828

Born in Fuerdetodos, Aragon.

He is said to be the last of the old masters and first of the modern.

He was a favourite of King Carlos 111 but packed in popularity with the Royal and Charles IV during the French invasion in 1808

Probably one of the best portrait painters the world has ever seen to date. He was noted for his disinclination to flatter.

He is also noted for his portrayal of the cruelty of the French when they invaded Spain.

Now also famous for his powerful engravings.

Sadly in later life he went deaf and develop a type of dementure. This was the period of his Black Paintings and Disasters of War. The Disasters of War depict the horrors of the Peninsular war and are quite bizarre. They were not published until 35 years after his death.

C19 Joaquin Sorolla 1863-1923

A native of Valencia.

He was greatly influenced by impressionism and is noted for his vibrant colours and vigorous brush work.  He painted blinding

shafts of light like no other painter before him.

He travelled to Madrid, Rome and Paris. It was in Paris that he had his first exposure to modern painting.

Sorolla painted in 1897 two masterpieces linking art and science: Portrait of Dr. Simarro at the microscope A Research. These paintings were presented at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts held in Madrid in that year and Sorolla won the Prize of Honor. These paintings may be among the most outstanding world paintings of this genre in the way Sorolla has captured the light in a laboratory.

An even greater turning point in Sorolla´s career was marked by the painting and exhibition of Sad

Inheritance 1899. The painting earned Sorolla his greatest official recognition, the Grand Prix and a medal of honor at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900, and the medal of honor at the National Exhibition in Madrid in 1901.

Although portraiture was not his personal preference he accepted commissions as they were well paid. We can see the influence of Velázquez in his painting ´My Wife and Daughters in the Garden´ reminisant of ’Las Meninas’.

In his later works The Vision of Spain, Sorolla visited each location in Spain and painted models posed in local costume. Each painting featured the landscape, culture and the region.

The Museo Sorolla in Madrid was the artist´s house and there is a permanent exhibition. His wife left many of his paintings to the Spanish public.

The Prado also has a huge collection of Sorolla’s work.

Take a look at this video on You Tube of which there are many more http://bit.ly/fkhdvR.

For me Sorolla has colour, light, energy and vibrancy. It is his work I would hand on my walls.

C20 Pablo Picasso.  1881 1973

Pablo Picasso

Born in Madrid is possibly on e of the most world famous artists.

Picasso had a passion for drawing from an early age. He was influenced by the works of  Velázquez, Goya, but he adored the work of El Greco with his elongated limbs, mystical visages. These were to influence his later work.

Picasso´s early training by his father can be traced in the collection of early works now held by the Museum Picasso in Barcelona.

His next period was his BLUE period when he used somber blues and greens. Very austere use of colour and doleful subject matter.

The ROSE period followed and was much more cheery using orange and pink colours and depicting clowns and harlequins.

His CUBISM period developed between 1909-1912 when he began to analyze his work according to shape.

CLASSICISM and SURREALISM developed in the period of war that followed.

‘Guernica’ is arguably his most famous painting (1937) and hangs today in Sofia Reina museum in Madrid. If depicts his revulsion at the bombing of the Basque Country in the Spanish Civil War.

Much of his later work was shunned by the art critics of that time and not until after his death was it recognize that he had been at the forefront of neo –expressionism.

Picasso was an extremely prolific artist throughout his long life. The total number of artworks produced has been estimated at over 50,000.

miro/ self portrait

C20 Joan Miro  1893-1983

He remained in Spain and worked in Majorca and Barcelona.

His paintings were very modern and he loved surrealism and abstraction.

C20 Salvador Dali 1904- 1989

Dali-self-portrait

Now last but not least.

Born in Figures, Catalonia.

Extremely flamboyant painter. A true surrealist and his work often showed bizarre imagery

His most famous painting and most recognizable is ‘Persistence of Memory’.

I have left Dali until last because I had the opportunity to visit a small local museum to watch videos of him.

How fortunate it is to have live footage of this man and try to understand the workings of his mind.

It was so illuminating to see the places he lived and understand what influenced his work.

He drew attention as an eccentric dresser and dandy man. Dali grew a flamboyant moustache, influenced by seventeenth-century Spanish master painter Diego Velazquez. The moustache became an iconic trademark of his appearance for the rest of his life.

We saw the rock pools where he played and was fascinated by the tiny sea creatures, shells etc. and how he re-created this in his pictures.

Called to produce the dream sequence for Alfred Hitchcock’s film ´Spellbound’. In the video Hitchcock explains that it was not a publicity stunt for his film but that he knew Dali could produce the surreal atmosphere in the dream sequence. The actress was also interviewed and explained how Dali worked and some of his bizarre behaviour like jumping on and off the sofas. She had to pose for the paintings in some weird positions.

The questions was asked: Genius, Charlátan  or a tormented soul.

Before watching this video and seeing some of his personal artifacts I could never have began to understand his paintings and work or the windmills of his mind.  You might not want Dali hanging on your sitting room wall but I doubt he will ever be forgotten.

His paintings are displayed all over the world but the Dali Theatre and Museum is in Figures, his home town, Catalonia, Spain. It houses the largest and most diverse collection of his work.

1988 was visited by King Juan Carlos, who confessed that he had always been a serious devotee of Dali.

On January 23, 1989, while his favourite record of Tristan Isolde played, he died of heart failure at Figures at the age of 84,

Dali´s is buried in a crypt in the basement having come full circle from the place where he was born and christened.

Dali came alive for me in that little exhibition in Teulada- Moraira where I live. He certainly leaves lessons on living your life. first time

After researching these famous Spanish Artists I have come to realize how their main spheres of influence were the Church and Spanish Royals until the time of Pablo Picasso.  Their work was also influenced in part by those materials that were available to them in their time. When Picasso arrives on the scene we begin to see great splashes of vibrant colours. Finally, we arrive at Dali who was so much his own person but with many outside influences politics. He was able to travel extensively and see many parts of the world not available in previous generations.

When I started this blog I had no idea where it would lead me or how it would inspire me.

I have learned so much and will now continue to go deeper.

How easy to plan an art tour of Spain. Maybe start in Toledo and travel down to Barcelona, Valencia and Seville in the tracks of these incredible artists who have given so much over the centuries.