José Navarro Vives

JOSÉ NAVARRO VIVES (Castelsarrasin, France, 1931–Barcelona, 2023).
“Composition.”
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
With a label from the Maria Salvat Gallery on the back.
Measurements: 80 x 100 cm; 103 x 121 cm (frame).

While still a child, Navarro moved with his family to Barcelona. There he began his training at the School of Arts and Crafts, and later at the Higher School of Fine Arts. He won first prize at the University Painting Exhibition, which allowed him to participate for the first time in group exhibitions in Barcelona and Madrid in 1955 and 1956. In 1957, he received a scholarship from the French government to further his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. In the French capital, he was exposed to a different artistic and intellectual scene, which opened him up to new ideas. Following this period, he traveled—again on a scholarship—to London, where he took classes at Saint Martin’s School of Art. This phase marked the end of his training and the beginning of his professional career. In London, he participated in group and solo exhibitions and won first prize in the British Rail advertising poster competition. In 1963, he settled permanently in Barcelona. His style has had two distinct facets. On the one hand, he approaches the reality of form through geometric approaches. On the other hand, he explores a form of kinetic art rooted in Constructivism. Following his first solo exhibition at the Liberty Gallery in London in 1958, Navarro has held solo exhibitions in Spain, England, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, and the United States. His work is featured in the British Crown Museum, the Mairie de Castelsarrasin, the contemporary art museums in Bilbao, Ibiza, Madrid, and Seville, the Figueras Museum, and the San José Castle Museum in Lanzarote, as well as in major private collections in Spain, France, England, and the United States.