Antonio Muñoz Degraín

ANTONIO MUÑOZ DEGRAÍN (Valencia, 1840 – Málaga, 1924).
"Landscape," 1885.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 37 x 62 cm, 52.5 x 79 cm (frame).

Antonio Muñoz Degraín began studying architecture in his youth at his father’s insistence, though he soon abandoned those studies in favor of painting. A student at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts 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 regularly in the National Fine Arts Exhibitions from 1862 to 1915, and his successes in these competitions would decisively shape his artistic career. In 1862, he was awarded an honorary medal; he received a third-place medal in 1864 and second-place medals in 1867 and 1871. Commissioned in 1870 to decorate the Cervantes Theater in Málaga, he settled permanently in this Andalusian city. There he married, and years later he was appointed supernumerary professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Telmo (1879). From the Academy, Muñoz Degraín mentored an entire generation of artists, including the very young Picasso, who would always show him affection and respect. In 1881, the painter won first prize at the National Exhibition with “Othello and Desdemona” (Museu do Chiado, Lisbon), which earned him a government stipend that allowed him to finally take his long-desired trip to Rome, also visiting several cities in Tuscany and Venice. In Italy, he created his great masterpiece, “The Lovers of Teruel” (Prado Museum), one of the most important works of 19th-century Spanish painting, which the painter submitted to the 1884 National Exhibition in Madrid, winning first prize. From then on, his growing prestige earned him numerous honors and public awards. He was named a Knight of the Orders of Isabella the Catholic, Charles III, and Alfonso XII; he received the Medal of Honor from the 1910 National Exhibition; and in 1898, upon the death of Carlos de Haes, he was appointed to the chair of landscape painting at the San Fernando Academy in Madrid. He was appointed a member of that institution the following year and became its director in 1901. He also served as president of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. Muñoz Degraín also enjoyed notable success abroad, exhibiting his paintings at the World’s Fairs in Philadelphia (1876), Munich (1883), and Chicago (1893). His works are currently on display at the Prado Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Valencia, and others.