Juan Martínez Abades

JUAN MARTÍNEZ ABADES (Gijón, 1862 – Madrid, 1920).
“Fishermen.”
Oil on panel.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 32.5 x 23 cm; 40.5 x 31 cm (frame).

The painting “Fishermen” by Juan Martínez Abades is a magnificent example of one of the most recognizable themes in his body of work: the depiction of seafaring life and the people of the sea. Born in Gijón and deeply connected to the Cantabrian landscape, Martínez Abades made the sea, ports, boats, and fishermen some of the central subjects of his paintings, achieving notable prestige as a marine painter between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this panel, the small format further reinforces the intimate and spontaneous nature of the scene, conceived almost as a snapshot of port life.

A painter and illustrator, Martínez Abades began his artistic studies at the Jovellanos Institute in Gijón, where he started to develop his extraordinary talent for drawing by copying works from the school’s collection. In 1880, he moved to Madrid and enrolled at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts, combining his studies there with private lessons from José Gragera and Ignacio Suárez-Llanos. In 1884, under the influence of Rosales, he submitted his painting “The Death of Messalina” (Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias, Oviedo) to the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. During the summers, he painted in Gijón, specializing in seascapes. In 1888, he was awarded a merit scholarship by the Oviedo Provincial Council to further his studies in Rome, where he remained until 1890. Upon his return, he settled once again in Madrid, though he continued to travel to the coast during the summers to make sketches from life. The same year he returned from Italy, he submitted the painting “El Viático a bordo” to the National Exhibition, for which he won a second-class medal, catapulting him to fame in the Spanish art world. He also participated in the exhibitions of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid and contributed as an illustrator to the magazine “Blanco y Negro.” He continued to regularly exhibit his work at national, regional, and specialized thematic exhibitions, once again being awarded a second-class medal at the 1892 National Exhibition and, finally, a first-class medal and the Order of Isabella the Catholic at the 1901 edition. He also participated in international exhibitions, such as the one held in Berlin in 1891 and the one in Chicago in 1893. In his later years, he focused his work on illustration, putting painting on the back burner. However, his art would be recognized by critics and the public alike at a major retrospective exhibition dedicated to his work at the Salón Iturrioz in Madrid in 1913. Juan Martínez Abades is represented in the Prado Museum, the Provincial Museum of Lugo, the Jovellanos Museum in Gijón, the Jaume Morera Museum in Lleida, and the San Telmo Municipal Museum in San Sebastián, as well as in the MAXAM collection and other Spanish and international collections.