José Alfonso Cuní

JOSÉ ALFONSO CUNÍ (Montmeló, Barcelona, 1924-2021).
"Notre Dame".
Engraving, Artist's proof.
Signed and justified in the lower margin.
Measurements: 48 x 63 cm; 54 x 70 cm (frame).

José Alfonso Cuní began his artistic training very young, attending local academies and participating in competitions while studying. Economic limitations forced him to leave his studies after high school and work in a printing press, although between 1943 and 1947 he was able to continue his training in evening classes at the Llotja School in Barcelona, which finally opened the doors to Fine Arts. In 1951 he entered the School of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he trained with Ramon Stolz and collaborated in important restoration works, such as Goya's mural paintings in San Antonio de la Florida or the dome of the Pilar in Zaragoza. Throughout his career he developed an intense activity as a muralist and also explored engraving and sculpture, fields in which he won awards such as the Grand Prize for Engraving in the National Plastic Arts Competition (1962), as well as other distinctions such as the third medal in the 1964 National Exhibition and the first in 1966. His exhibition career includes numerous national and international exhibitions, among them the retrospective at the Dirección General de Bellas Artes de Madrid (1967), the VII Biennial of Tokyo (1970), the Portsmouth Arts Festival (1972), the Cid Gallery in Madrid (1974), the Museum of Modern Art in Kobe (1979) and the Arvil Gallery in Mexico (1981).