Elena Gago

"ELENA GAGO," ELENA FERNÁNDEZ GAGO (La Coruña, 1940–2011).
“Plate and Orange.”
Mixed media on panel.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 27 x 40 cm; 42 x 54 cm (frame).

Considered one of the leading visual artists of 20th-century La Coruña, Elena Gago was part of the generation that spearheaded the renewal of Galician painting in the 1960s, a group that included painters such as Mercedes Ruibal, María Antonia Dans, and María Victoria de la Fuente, among others. Initially, Gago trained under the painter Dolores Díaz Baliño, before moving to Madrid, where she enrolled at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts and attended classes at the Círculo de Bellas Artes. It was during the 1960s that she achieved her greatest prestige, a fact that led her to exhibit her works in various cities throughout Spain and Europe. Thus, Germany, Belgium, the United States, and Japan were among the countries that witnessed her success, where she captivated both the public and the art press, leading to her work being acclaimed by prominent figures of the time, such as Professor Camón Aznar and the writer Camilo José Cela. Gago’s style is characterized by a marked poetic realism that does not focus on precision or the use of a purely virtuosic technique; rather, his paintings are distinguished by the emphasis on pictorial qualities, producing a dramatic effect—in terms of space, light, and color—in the domestic elements he typically depicts. His work is included in national and international collections, as well as in the María José Jove Foundation, among others.