Large vintage oil on canvas by Eduardo Vicente

Extraordinary large oil on canvas made by Eduardo Vicente, a painter belonging to the Madrid School of the mid-20th century. It is a painting with light and clear strokes, which represents a wide desolate landscape and a man in the foreground, barely faceless to emphasize his anonymity and nostalgia. In this work, the artist's technique is perfectly demonstrated, based on simple compositions, a sketched drawing and the search for spaces where a special atmosphere can be created thanks to light. This is achieved with delicate colors that appear translucent. Signed in the lower left area. About Eduardo Vicente (1909 – 1968) Trained in Madrid, at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts, Eduardo Vicente interacted with intellectuals and artists such as Juan Ramón Jiménez, Gerardo Diego, Pedro Salinas, Cristina Mallo, Eugenio D'Ors and Ortega y Gasset, among others, who contributed to develop broad and elevated intellectual views in the painter. Probably because of these concerns, his painting has a great literary burden. Until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he had worked as a copyist for the Ambulante Museum of Pedagogical Missions, created to disseminate copies of the most important works of Spanish painting in the small towns of Spain, among others, he made copies of the black paintings by Goya. His life was deeply marked by the Spanish Civil War, an episode in our history that was widely reflected in his work. A militant on the Republican side, Esteban collaborated as an illustrator in some magazines, and made posters and engravings for different Republican organizations. His works on the war were drawn with the sense of the snapshot of photographs. The engravings, on the other hand, provide a wide repertoire of the deepest and most popular Spain. During the postwar period and in the 1950s, Eduardo Vicente captured, like a plastic witness, some aspects and corners of the city that have been lost forever. Above all, he reflected the sadness of certain bare landscapes, of the Madrid suburbs, where he unraveled with his gaze the people who populated these bare scenes. He was only 30 years old, in 1939, with a magnificent artistic training and experience, despite this, he knew how to get ahead; He made friends with José María de Cossio, who got him a job in Espasa Calpe, and Eugenio Dor's knew his painting and felt admired by it; He put him in contact with a gallery owner, Aurelio Biosca, who commissioned him to make a poster for the Salón de los Once. The good criticism he received made it possible for him to resume his career. Belonging to what was called “School of Madrid”, he held a preferred position, along with Benjamín Palencia, Rafael Zabaleta, Godofredo Ortega Muñoz, Pancho Cossío and Díaz Caneja. In 1951 he was a member of the Jury of the "I Bienal Hispanoamericana de Arte" and was also invited to participate in the Venice Biennale. Dimensions: 160 x 71 / 140 x 50 cm. Reference : 307741