In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month I have put together a brief look at the Top Ten Hispanic visual artists in chronological order.
“El Greco”, DOMénicos Theotokópoulos (1541-1614) was actually Greek but lived and worked in Italy and then Toledo, Spain for much of his career. El Greco (The Greek) was a painter and sculptor of the Renaissance and is perhaps best known for his figurative, religious paintings that depict people with elongated bodies. El Greco was influenced by Italian Renaissance greats Michelangelo, Raphael, Correggio and Parmigianino. (Not a cheese, I assure you.)
Francisco Zurbarán (1598-1664)
Spanish painter sometimes referred to as the Spanish Caravaggio because of his successful use of chiaroscuro, characterized by sharp, contrasting light and dark. Zurbarán was best known for his religious paintings and for his still-lifes.
Diego Velazquez (1599-1660)
Spanish Baroque painter who was the lead artist for King Philip IV of Spain. While he painted during the Baroque period, his style could be categorized as realistic and individualistic. Velazquez’ portraits of commoners and noblemen influenced such artists as Édouard Manet, Francis Bacon, Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1611-1682)
Spanish Baroque painter most known for his religious works, he also created portraits of contemporary women and children from everyday life. Murillo was influenced by Spanish artists Velazquez and Zurbarán, and helped to start the Academia de Bellas Artes (Academy of Fine Arts) in Seville Spain in 1660.
Francisco de Goya (1746-1828)
Aragonese Spanish painter and printmaker most famous for his paintings of Spanish royalty and his artworks of social commentary. One of Goya’s most famous paintings is entitled the Third of May 1808 and depicts Spanish resistance fighters being shot firing squad style by the invading Napoleon’s army. While perhaps tame by today’s standards, this painting by Goya was revolutionary not just for its overt content but also for its implied message of the horrors of war.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Andalusian Spanish painter and sculptor acknowledged as one of the most influential artists in the world of art history. Picasso went through several stylistic periods in his artwork that included the Blue Period (1901-1904) and the Rose Period. (1904-1906) Perhaps one of Picasso’s greatest achievements was the co-founding of Cubism which must be shared with his artist colleague Georges Braque as well as with the African masks and sculptures which inspired Picasso. (And a tip of the artistic lid to Paul Cezanne who also had a painterly hand in the invention of Cubism.)
Diego Rivera (1886-1957)
Mexican muralist and active communist, Diego painted murals in Mexico City, San Francisco, Detroit and New York City. Rivera’s murals were usually figurative, narrative paintings that glorified the worker and incorporated bold colors and undulating shapes.
Joan Miró (1893-1983)
Spanish Catalan painter and sculptor who was part of the Surrealist movement of art of the mid-20th Century but as an iconoclast refused to officially join the Surrealists. Miró had an overtly defiant attitude toward conventional painting and claimed he wanted to “assassinate painting”, his artwork often incorporated bright colors and whimsical shapes.
Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)
Spanish Catalan painter who is one of the best-known artists in the history of the world. Dali was part of the Surrealist art movement that was most active during the 1920s to the 1950s. paintings such as The Persistence of Memory (you know, the melting watches) and his collaborative films made with Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel have influenced generations of artists and filmmakers.
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)
Mexican painter most known for her autobiographical paintings and self-portraits, as well as for her tumultuous marriages to Diego Rivera (see above). Recent movies and books about Kahlo have created a resurgence in the popularity of her artworks and her story.
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