Luis Álvarez Catalá (22 January 1836 – 4 October 1901) was a Spanish painter of historical scenes and Director of 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 ...

from 1898 to 1901.

Biography

He is believed to have been born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, to an Asturian family from Cangas de Narcea, where he spent the summer seasons during his childhood. After finishing his primary education in

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

, he returned to Madrid, where he enrolled in the "Escuela Especial de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado" and was a student of

Federico de Madrazo Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz (9 February 181510 June 1894) was a Spanish painter. Biography Born in Rome, he was the son of José de Madrazo y Agudo, the painter and former Director of the Prado Museum, and Isabel Kuntz Valentini. Federico's gra ...

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 ...

.Biography
@ the Museo del Prado website. In 1857, he won a scholarship to study in Rome, together with

Eduardo Rosales Eduardo Rosales Gallinas (4 November 1836 – 13 September 1873) was a Spanish painter. He was an adherent of the Italian-based art movement known as "Purismo" and specialized in historical scenes. Biography He was born in Madrid. The second ...

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and

Dióscoro Puebla Dióscoro Teófilo Puebla Tolín (25 February 1831 – 24 October 1901) was a Spanish painter in the Academic art, Eclectic style who specialized in portraits, Genre art, genre and history painting. Biography Puebla was born in Melgar de Fer ...

. After four years there, he won a gold medal at the first National Exposition of Florence for his painting '' Calpurnia's Dream'', which took second place at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts of Spain in 1862. Queen

Isabel II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

bought the painting and his scholarship was extended for three years. He was married in Rome, and ultimately remained there until 1894, with brief stays in Madrid. He continued to exhibit widely in Italy, Spain and Germany, winning awards in 1889 and 1890. Finally, he returned to Spain to accept the position of deputy director at the Museo del Prado and, four years later, was appointed Director by the Queen, following the resignation of Francisco Pradilla. His new Deputy was

Salvador Viniegra Salvador Viniegra y Lasso de la Vega (November 23, 1862 – April 29, 1915) was a Spanish people, Spanish history painting, historical painter and patronage, patron of the arts. Biography Born in Cádiz, Viniegra began studying law but soon dec ...

. During his administration, he made several important acquisitions, including several works by

Francisco de Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, a ...

. In 1899, he produced a ''Catálogo ilustrado de la sala de Velázquez'' (Illustrated catalog of the

Velázquez Velázquez, also Velazquez, Velásquez or Velasquez (, ), is a surname from Spain. It is a patronymic name, meaning "son of Velasco". References to "Velazquez" without a first name are often to the Spanish painter, Diego Velázquez. Notable peo ...

collection) and oversaw the installation of a statue of Velázquez by

Aniceto Marinas Aniceto Marinas García (born 17 April 1866 in Segovia – died 23 September 1953 in Madrid) was a Spanish sculptor. He studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, taking further studies at the . He became Director of the Real ...

. He also continued to paint, mainly producing works in the

costumbrista ''Costumbrismo'' (in Catalan: ''costumisme''; sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is Literary costumbrismo, the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primari ...

style. In his last years, he created scenes inspired by his youth in Northern Spain, many of which are now at the

Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias The Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias (; ) is a museum in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. It is situated within three buildings: the Palacio de Velarde, the House of Oviedo-Portal, and the House of Solís-Carbajal. The museum was conceived on 13 June 18 ...

. He died in Madrid.

Selected works

File:The Flower Shop by Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Flower Shop'' File:The Unveiling by Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Unveiling'' File:Filandón, por Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Filandón'', a traditional evening community gathering
in León and Asturias File:Dressing for the Ball by Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''Dressing for the Ball'' File:La modelo del artista, por Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Artist's Model'' File:The Suitor by Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Suitor''

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Álvarez Catalá
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez Catala, Luis 1836 births 1901 deaths Directors of the Museo del Prado 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links