Landscape. Oil on canvas. FRAU, José (Spain, 1898-1976). Signed (lower right area). José María Isidro Frau y Ruiz (Vigo, May 15, 1898 – Madrid, March 24, 1976) was a Spanish painter and academic, renowned for his landscapes and for being part of the Paular School of Painters (established by Royal Decree on February 22, 1918, within the Landscape Chair that the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts had created in 1845 as part of its official art curriculum; it ceased operations in 1936 and was revived in 2018). Known as José Frau, he began his artistic training in Huelva with Antonio de la Torre and Eugenio Hermoso Huelva. In 1916, he entered the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and from 1917, he participated in the National Exhibitions in Madrid, also exhibiting his work in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Mexico City, New York, and other cities. He traveled through South America in 1947, settling in Mexico three years later and returning to Spain in 1966. His work is preserved in prominent private collections and institutions such as the Quiñones Municipal Museum of León (Spain), the Museum of Fine Arts of La Coruña, the Reina Sofía National Art Centre Museum (Madrid, Spain), the Museum of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, etc. He has been considered one of the leading figures of the Spanish equivalent of "magical realism." His paintings are based on figurative principles and a naturalistic and symbolic background. He participated in the renewal of Spanish painting during the 1920s and 30s, evolving towards a post-impressionist style. Later, he focused on a serene, post-Cézanne-inspired modernity, portraying landscapes with figures set in fantastical and magical environments. During the post-war years, he returned to a looser, more energetic brushstroke. In his later works, he employed a Fauvist palette dominated by highly contrasting greens, blues, earth tones, and blacks, while his work underwent a progressive stylization process and the human figure became less prominent.
· Size: 91x3x71 cms. int: 79x59 cms.
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Ref.: ZF1266
