Eduardo Arroyo

EDUARDO ARROYO (Madrid, 1937–2018).
“Portrait of Giacomo Rossini” and “At the Table with Rossini (book),” 1993.
-Four-color silkscreen print. Copy 273/300. Special edition of 300 copies.
-Book *At the Table with Rossini* by Alessandro Falassi, with illustrations by Eduardo Arroyo.
The silkscreen print is reproduced in Eduardo Arroyo’s catalog raisonné, No. 287.
Silkscreen signed, dated, and numbered by hand at the bottom.
Measurements: 23 x 15 cm (silkscreen); 25 x 17 cm (book).
A painter, sculptor, and printmaker, Arroyo stands out as a major figure within the neo-figurative movement. A key figure in the Spanish New Figuration movement, Arroyo came to prominence on the national art scene relatively late, beginning in the 1980s, following a two-decade hiatus forced by the Franco regime. Today, his works hang in Spain’s most renowned museums, and his creativity extends to theatrical set designs and illustrated publications. Arroyo began his career in journalism, completing his studies in 1957. He then moved to Paris, fleeing the stifling political climate in Spain at the time. Although his first calling was as a writer—a pursuit he continues to this day—by 1960 he was already making a living as a painter. That year, he exhibited for the first time at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture in Paris. His critical stance toward dictatorships—both political and artistic—led him to undertake controversial initiatives. He chose figurative painting during a period when abstract painting dominated the Paris art scene, and his early subjects evoked “Black Spain” (portraits of Philip II, bullfighters, and dancers), rendered in a caustic and decidedly unromantic style. In the early 1960s, his artistic vocabulary shifted under the influence of American Pop Art, and by 1964 his break with Informal Art was definitive. He first made a public impact in 1963, when he presented a series of portraits of dictators at the Third Paris Biennial, which sparked protests from the Spanish government. That same year, Arroyo prepared an exhibition at the Biosca Gallery in Madrid, which opened without him since he had to flee to France after being pursued by the police; the exhibition was censored and shut down within a few days. However, Arroyo’s figurative approach took time to gain acceptance in Paris. The painter rejected the unconditional devotion to certain avant-garde artists, such as Duchamp or Miró, which he considered to be dictated by passing fads. In fact, his aim was to demystify the great masters and defend the role of the market as a protector and barometer of art, as opposed to the network of museums and influences funded by public money. In 1974, Arroyo was expelled from Spain by the regime, and he would not regain his passport until Franco’s death.