José Espert

JOSÉ ESPERT CLIMENT (Alginet, 1927 – Alginet, 2015).
“Characters.”
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner. Dedicated on the back.
Measurements: 35 x 24 cm; 60 x 50 cm (frame).
He enrolled in 1945 at the San Carlos School of Fine Arts in Valencia. He worked primarily in portraiture. He lived in Madrid, Paris, and Rome, and returned to Alginet once he had established himself as a painter. His most notable exhibitions were held in Valencia, Madrid, and Milan. In 1999, he was named an honorary son of Alginet for his contribution to the town’s artistic legacy, alongside Julio Palau Lozano, Juliet el Pelotari, and Ismael Latorre Mendoza.
Espert was the mentor of a group of painters that Adolfo de Azcárraga called the “mini-school of Alginet,” including Antonio Alegre Cremades, Vicente Benito Botella, Salvador Ribes Villalba, Manuel Blanco, Nydia Lozano, and Felipe Santamans.