”ABSTRACTION”. OIL ON CANVAS. SIGNED. MARTÍNEZ NOVILLO, CIRILO (MADRID, SPAIN, 1921-2008).

"Abstraction". Oil on canvas. Signed (lower right corner). MARTÍNEZ NOVILLO, Cirilo (Vallecas, Madrid, 1921 – Madrid, 2008). Cirilo Martínez Novillo was a painter from Madrid who began his training in the capital (School of Arts and Crafts, Ateneo Libertario del Pueblo de Vallecas during the Civil War, Higher School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving at the National Library), beginning at the time of the conflict his first artistic works in the world of literature. At the end of the war, he was imprisoned for a year, at which time he devoted himself completely to painting. In the 1940s he went from setting up his first studio and focusing his work on figures and still lifes, with his first individual exhibition in 1942, to being known by critics at the end of the decade; The 50s were very important in his pictorial training, he toured Spain and presented his work in several national and international exhibitions, in addition to being from these years when he was classified within the “Madrid School” (he collectively presented many works together with other members of it, such as Álvaro Delgado, Luis García Ochoa, Agustín Redondela, etc.). A scholarship from the French Institute of Madrid allowed him to travel to Paris for the first time in 1953, and he learned about the painting of masters such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Braque and Cézanne, and in 1960 he obtained another scholarship from the Juan March Foundation, returning to Paris and settling in the city for several years, reflecting in his work an aesthetic transformation that brings his painting closer to a language closer to abstraction, also modifying his concept of light. He has received numerous recognitions (Prize for Painting at the II Hispano-American Biennial of 1953 in Havana -Cuba-, in 1962 he obtained First Medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts, in 1999 he was awarded the Gold Medal at the Arte-Santander Fair in recognition of his artistic career, etc.), and his work has been seen all over the world (Madrid, Paris, Zurich, New York, Barcelona, Santander, Oviedo, Zaragoza, etc.). His paintings are preserved in important private collections and prominent institutions such as the Banco Santander Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art of Madrid, Museum of Albacete, Fundación Mapfre, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Museums of Fine Arts of Bilbao and Oviedo, Telefónica Collection , AENA Foundation, etc.

· Size: 50 x 61 cm; 69 x 79,5 cm (marco).