Carlos Vazquez

CARLOS VÁZQUEZ ÚBEDA (Ciudad Real, 1869 - Barcelona, 1944).
"Flamenca and guitar".
Mixed media on paper.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Illustration for the Artistic Illustration.
Measurements: 44 x 30 cm; 58 x 44 cm (frame).

Carlos Vázquez's collaboration with the magazine Ilustración Artística was an important part of his career as a cartoonist and illustrator in the context of the illustrated press of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This publication, published in Barcelona since 1882, was one of the most influential cultural and graphic magazines of its time in Spain, standing out for the quality of its illustrations and for bringing together some of the leading artists and engravers of the time. Vázquez participated by making drawings and illustrations to accompany literary articles, genre scenes, portraits and decorative compositions. His work was perfectly integrated into the refined graphic language of the magazine, characterized by a careful combination of academicism, modernity and narrative sensibility.

As we can see, Carlos Vázquez's illustrations for Ilustración Artística stand out for the elegance of the drawing, technical precision and attention to detail, qualities that allowed him to establish himself as one of the most recognized illustrators of his generation. In them we can see a clear influence of graphic modernism and contemporary European illustration, especially French, visible in the fluidity of the lines and the stylized treatment of the figures.

Painter, illustrator and poster artist, Vázquez was trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he was a disciple of Carlos de Haes. He received a grant from the Diputación de Ciudad Real and completed his studies in France and Italy, finally settling in Paris, where he worked with León Bonnat. He assiduously sent his works to national and foreign competitions, obtaining third medal in the National of 1892, second in the editions of 1899 and 1901, first in that of 1910 and decoration in 1904. He participated in the Paris Salons, where he obtained honorable mention in 1890, third medal in 1904 and second in 1907. He was also awarded first medal at the International Exposition of Barcelona in 1899, silver medal at the Universal Exposition of Paris in 1910 and in Buenos Aires in 1915, the same year in which he won the gold medal at the Exposition of San Francisco. He was a member of the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, knight of the French Legion of Honor, honorary member of the Hispanic Society of America, president of the Artistic Circle and the Artistic-Literary Society of Barcelona, and was decorated with the Grand Cross of Alfonso XII and the Red Eagle of Germany. He is represented in the Prado Museum, as well as in outstanding private collections.