Antonio Muñoz Degrain (18 November 1840 – 12 October 1924) was a Spanish painter who began in the

Eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

style, later in his career he moved towards

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. He is best known for his landscapes and scenes inspired by works of literature.

Biography

He was born in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

; his father was a watchmaker. Following his parents' wishes, he began studying architecture, but soon switched to painting and enrolled at the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia ( Spanish for ''Saint Charles Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Valencia'') has been a Spanish Art school in Valencia since 1768. History The institution is deemed to be the follow-on ins ...

.Brief biography
@ the Museo del Prado website. His time there was also short lived, as he soon moved to Rome and led a

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

life, becoming largely an autodidact. The rigors of surviving there prompted him to choose to return to Spain.Brief biography
@ MCN Biografías. In 1862, he displayed his work for the first time at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts with a painting of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

, which gained an honorable mention. After that, he became a regular exhibition participant. In 1870, his friend

Bernardo Ferrándiz Bádenes Bernardo Ferrándiz Bádenes (21 July 1835 – 3 May 1885) was a Spanish costumbrista painter. He is considered to be one of the founders of the "". Biography He was born in Valencia, the son of a fisherman in the port district known as " ...

obtained a commission for him to decorate the ceiling of the Teatro Cervantes in Málaga. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III ( es, Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III, originally es, Real y Muy Distinguida Orden de Carlos III) was establ ...

in 1878 for his painting of Queen Isabella giving her jewelry to

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

. The following year, he became a Professor at the "Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Telmo". He made a second trip to Rome in 1882, this time on a government fellowship, and remained for two years. Upon his return, he won First Prize at the National Exhibition for his depiction of a scene from the '' Lovers of Teruel''. In 1893, as part of the

Columbian Issue The Columbian Issue, also known as the Columbians, is a set of 16 postage stamps issued by the United States to commemorate the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago during 1893. The finely-engraved stamps were the first commemorative stamp ...

, his painting of Isabella was used on a $1 U.S. postage stamp.U.S. Stamp Gallery
Image and description. Five years later, he replaced Carlos de Haes in the chair of landscape painting at the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acade ...

. He became the Director there in 1901. In 1913, upon his retirement, he donated many of his works to the Academy of San Carlos and the

Museu de Belles Arts de València The Museu de Belles Arts de València (; es, link=no, Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia; English: "Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia") is an art gallery in Valencia, Spain, founded in 1913. It houses some 2,000 works, most dating from the 14th–17 ...

. He died in Málaga, aged 83.

Examples of his stylistic development

File:Otelo e Desdémona - Antonio Muñoz Degraín.jpg, Othello and

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish Venetian ...

(1880) File:Antoni Muñoz Degrain- Orillas del Tiber- 173.JPG, Banks of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where ...

(1893) File:Antonio Muñoz Degrain Washerwomen.jpg, Washerwomen (1903) File:Antonio Muñoz Degrain Seascape View of Palma de Mallorca.jpg, Seascape View of Palma de Mallorca (c.1910)

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Muñoz Degrain

The Athenaeum: More works by Muñoz Degrain

with photographs of Muñoz Degrain visiting the Centro del Carmen (1914) {{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz Degrain, Antonio 1840 births 1924 deaths 19th-century Spanish painters Spanish male painters 20th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish male artists Academic art Orientalist painters Artists from Valencia 19th-century Spanish male artists

Biography

Examples of his stylistic development

References

Further reading

External links