Eduardo Arroyo

EDUARDO ARROYO (Madrid, 1937–2018).
“Figure with a Hat,” 1990.
Pencil on paper.
Signed and dated.
Measurements: 108 x 74 cm; 120 x 83 cm (frame).

Eduardo Arroyo was a key painter, sculptor, and printmaker of Neo-Figurativism and a central figure in the Spanish New Figuration movement. After initially training as a journalist, he moved to Paris in 1958, where he developed his artistic career and spent much of his career in exile due to the political situation in Franco’s Spain.
In his early years, he embraced figurative painting in a context dominated by abstraction, incorporating critical references to Spanish history—such as dictators or traditional iconography—treated with irony and a provocative approach. His work evolved under the influence of Pop Art, establishing a visual language that was critical, political, and demystifying of the great figures of art and history.
His career was marked by censorship and conflict with the Franco regime, especially following his participation in the 1963 Paris Biennale. However, over time, his work gained widespread recognition both in Spain and internationally; he received the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 1982 and was the subject of major exhibitions at institutions such as the Centre Pompidou.