Juan González Alacreu

JUAN GONZÁLEZ ALACREU (Burriana, Castellón, 1937).
"Malvarrosa Beach".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 73 x 100 cm; 105 x 131 cm (frame).
Juan González Alacreu reaffirms one of the constants of his production: the exaltation of the Mediterranean light and the daily life next to the sea. Faithful to his impressionist language, the artist constructs the scene with loose brushstrokes, vibrant atmosphere and a careful capture of the instant. The female figures, common in his iconography, are not individual portraits but vehicles to study light, movement and chromatic harmony, essential elements in Alacreu's pictorial trajectory.
González Alacreu was already taking classes at the age of eight at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios, and at the age of sixteen he obtained a scholarship to study at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Carlos in Valencia. There he was a disciple of Sanchís Gago, Genaro Lahuerta and Bayarri. After completing his training, for many years he worked as an illustrator for various publishers, demonstrating his mastery of drawing, until he finally decided to devote himself exclusively to painting. Alacreu's work stands out for its language based on the purity of drawing, the basis on which the author paints light, translucence and reflections through vigorous brushstrokes, full of matter. His painting has the female figure as the protagonist, and this always appears linked to the landscape and Mediterranean customs: the scenes of manners in the rice fields and the Albufera, the overcast skies so common in his region, etc. His work is nevertheless very diverse; although he usually deals with costumbrista themes and landscapes, his paintings of Valencian women, who wear the regional costume with elegance and elegance, arouse great expectation. In these works we can appreciate, as if it were a photograph, the great ornamental richness of the typical Valencian dress. Alacreu venerates the landscape and is passionate about the light and customs of his Levantine land, and captures all this in his work, intelligent and intuitive in the chromatic, and almost perfect in the plastic syntax. Some analysts have framed his production within the best classical-impressionist tradition, with an outstanding influence of Sorolla in the technical aspect, loose and impressionist, and in his great concern for the luminous aspects. It should be emphasized that this painter is also a great portraitist, having portrayed great personalities of Valencian society and politics. Also, for years he was the official painter of the fallera mayor in Valencia. Alacreu has held numerous solo exhibitions in Castellón, Valencia, Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona, among other Spanish cities. He is currently represented in the Fallas Museum of Valencia, as well as in various private collections.