José Segrelles

JOSÉ SEGRELLES ALBERT (Albaida, 1885–1969).
"Beggar."
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 152 x 62 cm; 163 x 73 cm (frame).

José Segrelles trained at the San Carlos Academy in Valencia and later studied in the studios of Joaquín Sorolla and Isidoro Garnelo. He completed his studies at the Lonja in Barcelona, where his instructor was Antonio Cava. He was a great painter and illustrator whose career began in 1905 in Barcelona, where he worked for magazines such as “Seguí,” “Salvat,” “Granados,” and “Molina.” Later, in 1929, he moved to New York, where he lived for six years—a period that allowed him to develop as an artist and work for magazines such as “American Magazine,” “The American Weekly,” and “The Cosmopolitan.” He created a series of works characterized by intense colors and distinctive brushwork, combined with a sense of fantasy, intention, representation, and thematic depth. His work has followed an evolutionary path that incorporates the various techniques he mastered, reflecting what we would today call “mixed media.” His colorful works incorporated watercolors, tempera, gouache, pencils, and inks. Notable among his work as an illustrator are his commissions for texts by Dante, Edgar Allan Poe, *The Thousand and One Nights*, and *Don Quixote de La Mancha*. His prolific body of work was recognized with awards and honors such as the Gold Medal at the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition and, posthumously, the Gold Medal for Merit in Work. His work is preserved in various private collections, at his House Museum in Albaida (Valencia), and is also on display in Barcelona.