Vicente Nicolau Cotanda

VICENTE NICOLAU COTANDA (Sagunto, 1852 – Buenos Aires, 1898).
“Threading the Needle,” 1880.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 137 x 90 cm, 150 x 104 cm (frame).

Vicente Nicolau began his artistic training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos in Valencia, while also working in the studio of the famous painter Ignacio Pinazo. Beginning in 1880, he gained recognition through exhibitions held by the Sociedad Recreativa “El Iris” in Valencia and at the National Fine Arts Exhibitions, where he won third prize in 1884 for his work “The Vision of Fray Martín,” inspired by Canto I of the poem by Gaspar Núñez de Arce. A champion of Valencian art. Like other contemporary artists, he favored regionalist costumbrismo themes and genre scenes, although he also cultivated history painting in parallel. During the final years of his life, he lived in Buenos Aires (Argentina), where he was equally well-known.