Antonio Muñoz Degrain

ANTONIO MUÑOZ DEGRAIN (Valencia, 1840 - Málaga, 1924).
"Asturian landscape".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 70 x 110 cm; 85 x 124 cm (frame).
The canvas transports us to a corner of Asturias, where the landscape has been raised by the artist with great serenity. In fact, it was a representation that Muñoz Degrain approached on several occasions as exemplified by the work reproduced on page 60 of the book "Antonio Muñoz Degrain (V Valencia, 1840 - Malaga, 1924). Hall of Jewels. Caja de Madrid. Madrid. October-December 1995", where the same landscape is observed. The scene seems to be born from an attentive approach to reality, but it is soon carried away by an overflowing imagination that alters the strict fidelity to nature. Muñoz Degrain's palette, rich and vibrant, imprints each element of the environment with an almost visionary chromatic intensity. The brushstroke, loose and energetic, builds a space that vibrates, in which the pictorial matter takes center stage over any desire for exact representation.
The trees, with powerful trunks, are grouped in a tangle that filters the light and guides the eye towards the background, where the silhouette of a barn emerges, almost as a revelation. This small building, a symbol of Asturian rural architecture, is seen in chiaroscuro and is integrated into nature.
Thus, the work does not seek a literal reproduction of the place, but an interpretation that privileges the emotional effect and plastic richness.
Antonio Muñoz Degrain began studying architecture in his youth by his father's decision, although he soon abandoned it for painting. A student at the Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos in Valencia from the age of twelve, he was a disciple of the painter Rafael Montesinos, although his training was essentially self-taught. He participated assiduously in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts from 1862 to 1915, being his successes in these contests those that would decisively mark his artistic career. In 1862 he received an honorary medal, third in 1864 and second in 1867 and 1871. Called in 1870 to decorate the Cervantes Theater in Malaga, he settled permanently in this Andalusian capital. There he married, and years later was appointed supernumerary professor of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Telmo (1879). From the Academy, Muñoz Degraín was the teacher of a whole generation of artists, among them the very young Picasso, who would always show him his affection and respect. In 1881 the painter won a first medal at the National with "Othello and Desdemona" (Museu do Chiado, Lisbon), which gave him a government pension to finally make the desired trip to Rome, also visiting several cities in Tuscany and Venice. In Italy he painted his great masterpiece, "Los amantes de Teruel" (Museo del Prado), one of the capital pieces of Spanish painting of the 19th century, which the painter sent to the National Exhibition of Madrid in 1884, obtaining the first medal. From then on, his growing prestige brought him numerous honors and public rewards. He was named Knight of the orders of Isabella the Catholic, Charles III and Alfonso XII, received the medal of honor at the National Exhibition of 1910 and obtained in 1898, on the death of Carlos de Haes, the chair of landscape painting at the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. He was appointed member of that institution the following year, and director in 1901. He was also president of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. Muñoz Degraín also reaped notable successes abroad, presenting his paintings to the Universal Exhibitions of Philadelphia (1876), Munich (1883) and Chicago (1893). He is currently represented in the Prado Museum, the Fine Arts Museum of Valencia and others.