Eduardo Arroyo

EDUARDO ARROYO (Madrid, 1937–2018).
“Abadiotes,” 2012.
Pigment print on Awagami Japanese paper, edition 6/10.
Signed, dated, and numbered by hand.
Measurements: 40 x 30 cm.

A painter, sculptor, and printmaker, Arroyo stands out as a major figure within the neo-figurative movement. After beginning his career in journalism, he started painting in the late 1950s, exhibiting for the first time at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture in Paris in 1960. 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 fashion. 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. However, his critical breakthrough in Spain was not immediate and would not occur until the early 1980s. In 1982, he was awarded the National Prize for Visual Arts, and retrospective exhibitions were dedicated to him at the National Library in Madrid and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Currently, Arroyo’s work is represented in the Reina Sofía National Museum in Madrid, the Patio Herreriano in Valladolid, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Modern Art in Lille (France), among others.