Alvaro Delgado (1922-2016) A Spanish painter and illustrator known mainly for his portraits of political and cultural figures of his time, Álvaro Delgado’s started to study art at the Madrid School of Fine Arts during the Spanish Civil War. He also attended the workshops organised by the painter Daniel Vázquez Díaz (1937-1939), where he came into contact with avant-garde movements, particularly synthetic cubism which he included in his work. In 1939, Delgado joined the Second School of Vallecas under Benjamin Palencia and joined the Madrid School in 1945. In 1949, he was awarded a scholarship to study at the French Institute in Paris. His essentially figurative work became clearly expressionist in the use of colour and form, in landscapes, portraits and figures, with a tendency to elongate the forms influenced by the work of Greco. In the early 1980s, Delgado embarked on a process to decompose form in search of a greater expressiveness that he was to develop in the following decades.
Delgado’s work has been exhibited at events such as the Venice Biennale (1950, 1951 and 1964), La Habana Biennial (1954) and the São Paulo Biennial (1959 and 1963). He staged solo shows at the National Modern Art Museum (Madrid, 1947 and 1950); the Spanish Museum of Contemporary (Madrid, 1973); and the San Telmo Municipal Museum (Donostia/San Sebastián, 1986), among others. In 1974, he was appointed a full member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. His prizes include the Gran Prix for Painting at the Alexandria Biennial (1955), the First Medal for Merit in Drawing at the National Fine Arts Exhibition, the Gold Medal at the National Engraving Show (1962) and the Spanish Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts (1996).
Oil on canvas, c. 1960s Titled verso "Campesino", signed upper left 40" x 32", overall size is 48" x 40"
