The Ignacio Pinazo Exhibit Arrives at MAM

The Ignacio Pinazo Exhibit Arrives at MAM
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 11/25/2013

The Ministry of Culture, the Embassy of Spain, the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM – Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno) and the Museum of Modern Art will open the exhibit “Ignacio Pinazo, Master of Spanish Impressionism,” on Wednesday, December 4th, at 7:00 pm, at the MAM.

The exhibition underscores the artist’s particular solo jump into a set of visual arts research that anticipated many of the assumptions of modern Spanish painting.

The exhibition, curated by Javier Pérez Rojas, brings together a total of 61 works divided into 51 oil paintings and 10 drawings from the collection of the IVAM and the Pinazo Museum. They illustrate the evolution of one of the key artists of the transition period between the 19th and the 20th centuries.

Pinazo was born in Valencia, on January 11, 1849, and is one of the most prominent Valencian impressionist artists of the turn of the century. His artistic training began at age 21, achieving his first success three years later in Barcelona. In 1871, for the first time, he exhibited his works at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts.

He traveled to Rome twice, the first time thanks to the sale of a painting (1873) and the second time through a scholarship (from 1876 to 1881). There, he began his great historical productions, away from the conventions of the genre. In this first part of his career he painted pictures of an academic nature.

Starting in 1874, upon his return to his hometown, when he begins a more intimate and impressionistic painting. He abandoned the historical themes and instead started painting nudes, family members and scenes of everyday life. He is considered a forerunner of Joaquín Sorolla, Bastida and Francisco Domingo, in regards to themes and style.

In the annual art exhibits, in 1881 and 1885, Pinazo won a silver medal, and in 1897 and 1899 a gold medal. Meanwhile, in 1896, he became a member of the School of Fine Arts of San Carlos (Valencia).

In 1900, he participated in the decoration of the steps of the palace of Don José Ayora, together with Antonio Fillol, Peris Brell, and Luis Ricardo Verde Beüt. In 1903, he was appointed member of the San Fernando Academy. He received a Royal Medal, and in 1912 the city of Valencia dedicated a street to him. He died in Godella, Valencia, on October 18, 1916.