Rafael Argelés

RAFAEL ARGELÉS ESCRICHE (Algeciras, Cádiz, 1894 – Buenos Aires, 1979).
Untitled.
Oil on canvas.
Shows signs of restoration along the edges.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 81 x 146 cm.
A master of Spanish realism, Rafael Argelés studied at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts, where his teachers included Cecilio Pla and Muñoz Degrain. As early as 1912, he was awarded a medal of honor at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts, and in 1915 he received a government scholarship to continue his training in Italy at the Spanish Academy in Rome. He remained there until 1919. Upon his return to Spain, the young painter received a succession of recognitions and awards, and in 1920 he won third prize at the National Exhibition. Two years later, he participated in the exhibition again, and in 1926 he won second prize for “The Burial of Christ.” He also won the prize at the Exhibition of Andalusian Artists in Jaén in 1923. In 1930, he traveled to Brazil, holding two solo exhibitions in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. He later traveled through Uruguay and Argentina, not returning to Spain until 1933. In 1936, he aimed for the first medal at the National Exhibition with “El Acuarión” and “Moisés,” but the outbreak of the Civil War cut the exhibition short and forced him to flee to Argentina. He settled in Buenos Aires, where he would achieve great success as a painter. Beginning in 1969, he visited Spain sporadically, holding various exhibitions. Among his solo exhibitions, those held in Madrid at the Liceo de América (1922), the Círculo de Bellas Artes (1924), the Salón Cano (1969), and the Sala Eureka (1977) are particularly noteworthy, and in Barcelona, at the Sala El Siglo (1923), in addition to the exhibitions held in his hometown. Rafael Argelés’s work is currently represented in the Prado Museum (works on loan to the Provincial Council of Alicante and the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Santiago de Compostela), the Museum of Cádiz, the José Luis Cano Foundation, and other public and private collections.