Juan Alcalde

Juan Alcalde in Barcelona.

We present a new exhibition of Juan Alcalde in Barcelona. Alcalde passed away last 2020 at 101 years old, the painter from Madrid was the last living representative of the Spanish school in Paris.

Juan Alcalde is an artist of the gallery since its beginnings, over the years we have presented his work in various individuals and we have included him in our collective exhibitions dedicated to the Spanish school in Paris, establishing with him a professional relationship and deep friendship.

Alcalde is a rare bird in the Spanish school in Paris: like many others, he arrived in the French capital after the civil war, where he will know the harshness of the refugee camps and will be on the verge of death. Unlike other contemporaries, after a few years in the French capital, he returned to Madrid for a while, but the political situation led him to leave soon after to settle in Venezuela.

In 1960 he returns to Paris and frequents his friends of the Spanish school such as Viñes, Peinado or Lobo. His painting, however, is different from that of his contemporaries. In spite of having known the avant-garde at first hand, he leans towards a personal figuration of expressionist style, unusual among his contemporaries.

Landscapes, rural or urban, but solitary, human figures with a tragic air or still lifes, which he calls "cacharros", make up the bulk of his subject matter, often with a melancholic touch, which are more related to the expressionism practiced in Northern Europe than to the avant-gardes he knew in the city of light. His palette of ochers, blues, grays and, especially, white, which he was able to nuance to infinity, completes his work, a work full of mystery and silence.

In 2016, at over 95 years old he received the golden medal of the Spanish Association of Painters and Sculptors.

We are especially excited to present again the work of Juan Alcalde in Barcelona, an artist who has been with us since the beginning of the gallery and whose painting we have always vindicated.