Francisco Lozano Sanchis

FRANCISCO LOZANO SANCHIS (Valencia, 1912–2000).
“Landscape.”
Oil on panel.
Signed.
Measurements: 27 x 34 cm; 43 x 50 cm (frame).

A painter, teacher, and member of the Royal Academies of Fine Arts of San Fernando and San Carlos, Francisco Lozano developed an interest in painting from a young age, and at sixteen he began his training at the San Carlos Academy in Valencia. He later continued his studies at the Painters’ Residence at the Alhambra, and after the Civil War, he began to make a name for himself. His career took hold in the 1940s, when he began exhibiting regularly in Madrid and other cities. In the capital, he was warmly welcomed by Eugenio d’Ors, through whom he exhibited at the Estilo Gallery and who introduced him to the artistic and intellectual circles of Madrid at the time. A painter who was, above all, Mediterranean in spirit, his work focused on landscape from the very beginning; however, while initially influenced by Sorolla, he gradually evolved toward a more personal style, one that remained equally sensitive to light and color. His landscapes are synthetic, orderly, and austere—utterly modern. Between 1951 and 1952, he traveled to Paris on a scholarship from the French government, and upon his return, his recognition was cemented by winning first prize at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. That same year, he also achieved great success at the Venice Biennale. From then on, he combined his artistic practice with teaching at the San Carlos Academy, where he held a professorship from 1955 to 1977. At the same time, he held major exhibitions in Spain, South America, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, among other countries, primarily in Mediterranean Europe. Lozano was an honorary member of the Círculo de Bellas Artes (1952), a member of the Valencian Council of Culture (1986), and received an honorary doctorate from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (1994), and in 1993, a major retrospective exhibition was dedicated to him at the IVAM. His works are currently held in museums such as the Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Mendoza Foundation Museum in Caracas, the Camón Aznar Museum in Zaragoza, the IVAM in Valencia, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Montevideo, among others.