Antonio Muñoz Degrain (18 November 1840 – 12 October 1924) was a Spanish painter who began in the Eclectic style, later in his career he moved towards

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), 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 ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

; 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 language, Spanish for ''Saint Charles Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Valencia'') has been a Spain, Spanish Art school in Valencia, Spain, Valencia since 1768. History The inst ...

.Brief biography
@ the

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

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 Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

life, becoming largely an

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

. 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 are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, which gained an honorable mention. After that, he became a regular exhibition participant. In 1870, his friend Bernardo Ferrándiz Bádenes 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 (, originally ; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OC3) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bes ...

in 1878 for his painting of Queen Isabella giving her jewelry to Columbus. 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 The Lovers of Teruel () is a popular romance story. It is alleged to have taken place in 1217 in the city of Teruel (Aragón). Notable versions include a play written by Juan Pérez de Montalbán, first printed in 1635. Story In the city there ...

''. In 1893, as part of the Columbian Issue, 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 Carlos Sebastián Pedro Hubert de Haes (January 25, 1829 – June 17, 1898) was a Spanish painter from Belgium.Caso, E. F., ''Les Orientalistes de l'école Espagnole,'' ACR edition, 1997, p. 128 He was noted for the Realism (arts), Realism in h ...

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 centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

. 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 Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia. He died in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, aged 83.

Examples of his stylistic development

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

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

and

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

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

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest 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 it is joined by the R ...

(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 Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

(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 Spanish Orientalist painters Painters from Valencia 19th-century Spanish male artists Burials at the San Miguel Cemetery, Málaga

Biography

Examples of his stylistic development

References

Further reading

External links