Top 10 Spanish painters

Spanish painters are world famous and their works are exhibited in major museums. These Spanish painters have always known how to produce essential works. With their varied genres and their unusual style, these artists have marked history. Indeed, even if the most famous Spanish painters are all deceased, their works have been able to cross centuries and generations to reach us and make us discover an era and events that are unknown to us.

Today it is almost impossible to go to a museum without seeing a painting by a famous Spanish painter. That's why we made the list of the most famous Spanish painters.

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso is probably one of the most famous and well-known Spanish painters of the 20th century. He was born on October 25, 1881 in Andalusia. Very early on, he discovered his passion for drawing and produced his first paintings at the age of 8. His father, who is a drawing teacher, encourages him a lot. At 13, he began studying at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. He painted the famous paintings L'Enfant de Chœur and Science et Charité in 1896.

The Hispanic artist will cross several artistic genres throughout his life. Among them is Cubism, characterized by geometric shapes and confusing perspectives in order to multiply points of view.

After the bombardment of the city of Guernica in 1937, the Spanish painter produced his most emblematic painting named Guernica. Through his work, he denounces the horrors of war. He will say: “This painting is not made to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war, offensive and defensive against the enemy. »

Salvador Dali

Salvador Dalí is a famous Catalan painter, sculptor, engraver, screenwriter and writer of Spanish nationality. He is probably the most emblematic artist of the realism movement. He was born in 1904 in Figueres. He participated in the Competition-exhibition of original works of art by students and his painting Market won the rector's prize. Admired and rival, he is a great friend of Picasso.

Later, he joined the group of surrealists in Paris and his work would greatly influence his genre, which he describes as a “spontaneous method of irrational knowledge based on the critical and systematic objectification of delusional associations and interpretations”.

In the latter part of his career, returning to creating more classical images, Dali showed a preference for mysterious themes, history and science. He died in 1989 close to the Dali Theater Museum which he created himself.

Among his most famous works are: The Persistence of Memory, The Endless Enigma, The Sistine Madonna.

Joan Miro

A great Spanish surrealist painter, Joan Miró was born on April 20, 1893 in Barcelona and died on December 25, 1983 in Palma de Mallorca. He is also known for his numerous engravings and sculptures, notably Two fantastic characters made in 1975. His works reveal his attraction for the subconscious, the childish spirit and for his country.

Despite the reluctance of his parents, he decided to devote himself to painting and art in 1912, following a visit to a Cubist exhibition. His artistic style then shows a strong fauvist, expressionist and cubist influence. In 1920, he moved to Paris where he befriended the artistic community of Montparnasse, including Pablo Picasso, as well as a large number of Spanish surrealist painters.

To commemorate him, the Joan-Miró Foundation was created in Barcelona in 1975. It is a cultural and artistic center dedicated to presenting new trends in contemporary art. Important works by Miró are also collected elsewhere, such as the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundations in Palma de Mallorca, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in Lille and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Francisco de Goya

Francisco de Goya, whose real name is Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, is a particularly well-known Spanish painter and engraver who influenced the entire 19th century. In 1779 he produced the portrait of King Charles III. He became the official painter of the nobility and made many portraits full of power and skill. In 1786, he became painter to the king himself and was closely linked to free intellectuals.

Napoleon's conquest compelled Francisco de Goya to depict the war and the Spanish resistance. He first made 82 prints, "The Disasters of War", then painted his most emblematic work: "Tres de Mayo" (1814). A dark and cruel scene of military repression of the Spanish resistance.

In 1793 he suffered from a serious illness, which brought him closer to more creative and original paintings, revolving around themes with less consensus than the models he painted for palace decorations.

Francisco de Goya died in Bordeaux on April 16, 1828, four years after being exiled. The deaf and dumb man was ill, the cataracts had almost made him blind. The talented Spanish painter died at the age of 82.