José Puyet Padilla

JOSÉ PUYET PADILLA (Málaga, 1922 – Madrid, 2004).
"At the Dressing Table," 1975.
Oil on canvas.
Signed.
Measurements: 80 x 65 cm; 97 x 82 cm (frame).

The grandson of the famous artist José Padilla, Puyet developed a keen interest in painting from childhood, learning to use pencils and oil paints under his grandfather’s guidance. He was fourteen when the Civil War broke out, and at that time he was working as an apprentice at a British insurance company. At the age of twenty, he was stationed in Melilla to fulfill his military service, and there his superiors soon recognized his artistic potential. They began relieving him of guard duty so that he could paint portraits of the families of high-ranking officers at the barracks, a fact that strengthened Puyet’s confidence in his brushwork. Upon his return, he moved to Madrid and began his career as an occasional portrait painter, among other diverse jobs such as creating advertising illustrations for major firms like Mirurgia and Gal. At the same time, he was part of the set decoration team at Samuel Bronston Studios, painting backdrops for films with a wide variety of themes, ranging from the Roman countryside to the arid lands of the American West. During these years, he also gained recognition through various exhibitions in Madrid, including group shows at the Círculo de Bellas Artes. There he met the person who would become his definitive driving force: Mr. Cano, a gallery owner who offered him his first solo exhibition. From then on, and given the success of that exhibition, he held more than forty shows until the gallery closed. At the same time, Puyet exhibited his work in Barcelona, Valencia, San Francisco, New York, Montreal, Miami, Monterrey, Houston, Boston, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, and Milan, among other cities. In 1984, he was included in the prestigious American publication *Who’s Who in Art*. In December 1988, he was named a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Telmo in Málaga. Currently, Puyet’s work is represented in prominent collections such as those of the Duchess of Alba, the Grimaldi family, Juan March, Plácido Domingo, and others.