Alberto Hermoso

ALBERTO HERMOSO (Valladolid, 1927 - Madrid, 2017).
"Female nude", 1975.
Red chalk on paper.
Signed and dated in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 44 x 27 cm.
Alberto Hermoso González was born in Valladolid in 1927. His early artistic inclination led him to the School of Arts and Crafts. At the age of 14, he had a notable success exhibiting his drawings and watercolors in a commercial showcase, with which he obtained a small grant from the Provincial Council to acquire materials and painting tools, and the support of the University Association. In 1943 and 1944 he obtained an official scholarship from the Diputación and was able to move to Madrid to study at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. However, his pension rights were declared terminated, although he was able to renew them the following year. To do so, he had to demonstrate his skills by drawing in charcoal. In San Fernando he continued until the 1948-1949 academic year, combining his studies with work as a draughtsman at the Tapestry Factory and later as an engraver at the Mint. His teacher, the Valencian painter Manuel Benedito (1875-1963), managed to get him hired in Madrid to paint models for the ceramic factory in Irun, of which he was the artistic director. When he finished his career in San Fernando, with a prize in Drawing and the title of Professor, in 1950 he sent to the Diputación, as a sign of gratitude for the help received, a painting called "El postre" (The Dessert). He traveled to Paris in 1952 and two years later he entered the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. He competed, unsuccessfully, to paint the ceiling of the Teatro Real in Madrid. In 1956 he held his first individual exhibition in the art gallery "Los Madrazo", which he repeated that same year at the headquarters of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Valladolid. The following year, encouraged by his success, he presented a work to the National Exhibition of Fine Arts and was part of the jury of the "Eduardo Fernández Araoz" awards organized by the Tertulia vallisoletana of Madrid. In 1958 it was Hermoso himself who participated in this competition, which exhibited the works of the candidates for the prize in the auditorium of the town hall of Valladolid. That same year he went to Paris where he lived for ten years, combining painting with decorative works. In 1968 he participated in the First Biennial of Spanish Contemporary Art organized in Paris. That same year the Editorial Bruño published a booklet of drawings, with 30 plates, as an elementary course of artistic education. His pedagogical vocation took shape when he returned to Madrid and obtained, through open competition, a position as a term teacher at the School of Applied Arts and Artistic Trades, a post he would hold until his retirement.