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MANOLO VALDÉS

Valdes-3452-Cabeza-con-Azul-y-Amarillo-H

"I am just a narrator who comments on the history of painting in various ways, using new materials: it is like a game that consists of changing the code and the key to the artwork...Many of my colours, materials and textures are the product of relived experiences of other masters. My painting involves much reflection."

 

- Manolo Valdés

Artist-in-Studio.png

Landau Contemporary is privileged to present the gallery's first solo exhibition of works by Spanish master Manolo Valdés.

Matisse is the fountainhead for these recent works which also draw on a rich artistic legacy that spans centuries. These sublime portraits address representation, appropriation, material, culture and tradition. 

Manolo Valdés' distinguished career is propelled by a personalized visual language that has made him one of the most influential and recognizable Spanish artists of his generation. From the enduring Pop Art imagery created with Equipo Crónica in the 1960s to his remarkable solo career that began in the 1980s, Valdés continues to reevaluate historical iconography through the lens of contemporary culture. 

With his rich optical vocabulary, refined from an intimate knowledge of literature and art history, Valdés masterfully fuses layers of meaning into concrete portraits that are familiar in form yet provocative in effect. His aesthetic language, drawn from fragments of masterworks that have inspired him, explores the notion of collective memory, threading history into a contemporary narrative that animates our timeless pursuit of meaning. 

The backdrop for this current exhibition of recent paintings and sculptures, centres, for the most part, around one of Valdés' most important muses: Henri Matisse. However, as the artist and this presentation makes clear, "The re-reading of Odalisca that my painting has produced has more connotations than the mere reference to Matisse."

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When asked if he recalls his first encounter with Matisse, Valdés replied, "I first saw Matisse's work very early on. It was during my first trips to Paris when I was 16 years old. My love for his work has accompanied me until today and I've been 'commenting' on it my entire career, every time my heart has inspired me to do so."

The Green Stripe, 1905

(Property of Statens Museum for Kunst, Denmark)

From these historical markers, Valdés' creative process evolves from modest conception to richly textured figurative compositions. “My starting point might be something from Velázquez, for example,” he once noted. “Then, from that painting, I pick a fragment. Generally, it’s a head. Between when that head was created in the 17th century and now, so many things have happened in art history: material paintings, abstraction, pop art … What did pop art teach us? It taught us large scale. So when I look at and reread that image from the 17th century, I can’t stop thinking and block out everything that’s happened in art history between then and now. Everything that’s happened becomes a tool with which to reinterpret the original image.”

Like Matisse, who was vilified early in his career for his expressive brush strokes, unnatural colours and the unfinished quality of his work - the same elements which later established him as a leader of the avant-garde - Valdés disrupts the traditional understanding of painting. By sewing fabric onto the surface, layering his works with painted paper, and affixing objects to add tactile depth to the picture plane, Valdés' canvases effectively bridge painting and sculpture to defy narrow classification, stirring the visual and physical senses.

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Matisse como Pretexto

Mixed media

183 x 152.4 cm. 

2019

SOLD

With Matisse as his "pretext" or inspiration, notably his arabesques of the 1930s, Valdés has built an architectural mosaic that combines drawing, painting and sculpture. Monumental and expressive, we see Matisse’s influence in the sensual contours of the face, breathing life into his subject through fluid brushstrokes. 

The curled hair and striking facial features, distilled in a few confident lines, are further reminiscent of Matisse’s ink drawings, forsaking detail to reveal the essence of form in colourful layers and gentle curves. However, Valdés re-contextualizes the original images using a delicate balance of texture, structure and colour. The artist concentrates on the conceptual effect and integration of the material, rather than focussing solely on his subject, which is pivotal to his creative process. 

In Cabeza con Azul y Amarillo, the boldly outlined, mask-like features of the protagonist are evocative of Matisse, while the organic contours recall the late artist's cut-outs from the 1950s, the hair curved like petals on a flower. Yet Valdés' raw, textural treatment, which draws an intimate focus on the face, is a striking example of the artist's unfaltering craftsmanship. 

Valdes-3452-Cabeza-con-Azul-y-Amarillo-H

Cabeza con Azul y Amarillo

Mixed media

150 x 150 cm. 

2019

REF 3452

Valdés, a true Renaissance man, is one of the few artists to have mastered multiple mediums, including drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking. He often works on several canvases simultaneously; he obsessively layers, places, analyses and shifts, searching for the right combination as the painting begins to declare itself with each application and modification. 

 

Not content with the simple process of reduction of form and colour, Valdés uses fervent repetition in his work. It is not a coincidence that repetition was the medium through which Matisse explored the full range of an artistic concept, much as Valdés has done here, each painting a continual exploration of line, tonality, structure and scale, whose meaning and effect changes with every addition, subtraction or alteration of its components. 

"I never ask myself why a specific image keeps coming back to my head over the years," Valdés observed. "It's possible that I come back to it because I always feel like my commentary on a particular image is incomplete. Every time I have an idea to develop it's a good thing to continue the story I began."

"If I also make a sculpture from the same image, then the reading and interpretation of the original image will become deeper and more complex," the artist noted in a 2016 interview. "I never know whether I’m going to be more interested in a painting or a sculpture, so I work on both simultaneously. There will be periods where I focus more on one medium, and periods where I focus more on the other."

 

Valdés' treatment of the material - as important as the image itself - assembled into richly textured figurative compositions, makes each motif, each artwork, unique. "Many of my colours, materials and textures are the product of relived experiences of other masters," he notes. "The first thing I think is that I'm going to introduce materials that at the time artists weren't using. Informal painting and material painting have taught me how to use such materials, and they have taught the spectator to accept them."

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Matisse como Pretexto

Wood, Unique

137 x 140 x 91.5 cm.

2009

REF  3451

"In this show, I'm also showing some sculptures in which the actual materials have a great deal of importance," Valdés continued. "Wood is very present and in some, I have used polychrome which is a great tradition in my country such as with Berruguete and others."

In homage to Alonso González de Berruguete, considered the most important sculptor of the Spanish Renaissance and revered for his intricate wood sculptures, Valdés has used one of the most ancient artistic materials in Matisse como Pretexto. Yet, he has also made manifest the appearance of disintegration to emphasize the work's organic nature. By augmenting the figure's scale and limiting the details and palette, the materiality of the work becomes the sculpture's salient feature, which emphasizes its modernity. 

Cabeza X

Polychromated Wood, Unique

145 x 80 x 45 cm.

2019

REF  3449

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In his portraiture, Valdés uses the subject to address issues of representation, appropriation, culture and style. In the following Cabeza works, the artist has drawn from the Spanish Baroque tradition of polychrome sculpture reminiscent of Berruguete and Alonso Cano, who created lifelike busts of Biblical figures. Assembled from detritus and stressed wood, the stoic demeanour of Cabeza X suggests a character who transcends time, a projection from an ancient and foreign realm whose surface reflects its contemporary reality. 

Valdes-3457-Cabeza-con-Mariposas-Blancas

Cabeza con Mariposas Blancas y Negras

Polychromated wood and steel, Unique

56 x 46 x 40 cm.

2020

NOT AVAILABLE

"There is one particular sculpture," Valdés noted. "The Cristo Azul (Blue Christ), that has to do with the religious iconography that Art History has offered us especially during the centuries preceding the Renaissance. In the 20th-century, I was surprised to hear that Pope John XXIII commissioned Matisse to realize religious imagery for a chapel."

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Cristo Azul

Glass and steel, Unique

89 x 92 x 51 cm.

2020

NOT AVAILABLE

The use of ultramarine blue is equally significant. Comparable to the shade made famous by Yves Klein in the 1950s, the colour, known exclusively as Valdés Blue, was chosen specifically at the artist's foundry in Madrid. Beyond its expansive effect on depth, the colour also has a particular spiritual significance. Manifested in the Christ figure portrayed here, the preciousness of the pigment, extracted from lapis lazuli, a mineral found in Afghani mines, was so rare and expensive (at times more so than gold) that it was reserved for only the most sacred imagery. 

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"I have also been subsequently obsessed with Gaugin's Yellow Christ and later on the images by Rouault," Valdés noted when asked about his recent inspiration. "I then saw the opportunity these last few months to work on a Christ bust with this material. I have been able to mix wood, glass, bronze, iron and other materials." 

The Yellow Christ, 1889

(Property of Albright-Knox Art Gallery)

"A material that I have also just introduced is glass," Valdés further noted. "The heads are cast in the same manner as bronze is cast. The glass receives a very primitive treatment by introducing a great deal of texture when the glass is liquid. There are rocks, metals and other materials mixed in that I consider enriched in a great deal. Such treatment reminds me of my inspiration for these pieces which are Egyptian glass perfume jars."

Cabeza Ambar con Mariposas Blancas

Glass and steel, Unique

110 x 70 x 50 cm.

2020

NOT AVAILABLE

3459-Cabeza-Ambar-con-Mariposas-Blancas.

These glass sculptures also further develop Valdés' interest in religious iconography through a recurring motif in the artist's oeuvre: butterflies, a prominent symbol of resurrection in Christian ideology. "One day, while strolling in Central Park, I saw butterflies fluttering over a person's head," Valdés once remarked. "That inspired me! From that moment, I saw butterflies everywhere!" 

The artist's graceful depictions of the female head adorned with delicate headdresses and butterflies are striking in their contrast between the relative simplicity of the head, the intricate details of its crown and the solidity of the trunk. The vivid, reflective and variegated surfaces are also in constant dialogue with the surrounding environment, imbuing these sculptures with an ethereal quality. 

3460--Doble-Cara-de-Alabastro-con-Maripo

Doble Cara de Alabastro con Mariposas

Alabastar and steel, Unique

100 x 173 x 49 cm.

2020

NOT AVAILABLE

Valdés comes full circle with the final paintings presented in this exhibition. Inspired by Matisse's Odalisque paintings from his Nice period in the 1920s when Henriette Darricarrière was his main model and when he was still working loosely in the Fauvist style, Valdés deconstructs Matisse's fervent brushstrokes and coloristic sovereignty in this series. The Odalisque became the vessel for Matisse's most poetic, compositional and formal ideas.  Here, Valdés personalizes the subject in a contemporary tribute to the great master.

 

Yet when asked why he chose this fragment or image to reproduce, he answered: "Why do I choose an artist's painting over another to comment on it and to try to turn that painting into an autonomous piece? The election is always a mystery."

 

Valdés makes clear that by looking at the different works included in this exhibition, "The artists that interest me are many and varied." As with his sculptures, which draw on the breadth of history and ancient cultures, these paintings lay claim to the traditions and practices that pre-date Matisse. "This exhibition revolves for the most part around Matisse," Valdés argues. "However, for example, the re-reading of Odalisca that this painting has produced has more connotations than the mere reference to Matisse."

Odalisque with Tambourine (Harmony in Bl

"When I plant my easel in front of Odalisca to interpret it, I think about many things that have occurred in the history of Art after Matisse offered us this work that has inspired so many. I'm thinking about Picasso among others that have been in front of her."

Odalisque with Tambourine (Harmony in Blue), 1926

(© 2019 Succession H. Matisse/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)

"Pop Art has given me permission to amplify a fragment of the painting into a proportion that has very little to dow ith the original," he continued. "Pollock has taught me that a haphazard drop of paint on a canvas can make it beautiful. Picasso has told me that it's okay to place several eyes on the same face. I'm giving these examples so that it can be understood that my paintings ultimately are fed by a lot of elements that Art History places on my palette. My paintings would not be understandable without knowing what came after Matisse."

Matisse como Pretexto

Mixed media

184 x 153 cm.

2020

NOT AVAILABLE

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Retrato en Rojo, Naranja y Blanco

Mixed media

203 x 153 cm.

2020

NOT AVAILABLE

In applying objects and varied materials to burlap, the accumulation produces a visually arresting frontal portrait of a woman. Her gaze is captivating, like the Odalisque paintings, yet Valdés' works are rough and unpolished. The artist, in true command of his materials, harnesses their natural irregularities and imperfections, which intensifies the overall appearance and elegance of the figure. 

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Retrato con Circulos Rojos

Mixed media

240 x 170 cm.

2020

NOT AVAILABLE

Valdés is constantly experimenting and reconfiguring “histories already painted.” From the Renaissance to Modernity, from burlap to new works in glass, the Spanish master has united centuries of artistic tradition in this exhibition, and he continues to work prolifically at 78 years old, creating and exhibiting his works worldwide. Recent retrospectives have been held at the Guggenheim Bilbao, Madrid’s Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, The Naples Museum of Art, Florida, and the Pera Museum, Istanbul. Landau Fine Art is proud to present the artist's work for the first time.

"I'm very excited for this exhibition," says the artist. "I have followed Robert Landau's trajectory for a long time: his exhibitions and his participation in the art fairs. I've always thought that it would be the person I would choose because of his understanding and knowledge of art history to "read" my paintings. I'm very happy this dialogue started now."

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"Years ago Alice and Robert visited me in my studio in NYC and I have very fond memories of that visit. They brought me a book that showcased works from the gallery collection and I take this opportunity to say there was an image from a painting by Dubuffet about a cow and that image has been in my brain ever since waiting to be interpreted in one of my paintings."

Vache paissant, 1954

(Property of Landau Fine Art)

Valdés' work is included in more than forty of the most prestigious museums and public collections worldwide, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany; Menil Foundation, Houston; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Modern Museet Art, Stockholm, Sweden; Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Museo Nacional Centre de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Artist Biography

b.1942

Manolo Valdés began training as a painter at 15 years old at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos in his native Valencia. In 1965, at the age of 23, he formed the artistic group Equipo Crónica with fellow Valencian artists Rafael Solbes and Juan Antonio Toledo, whose aim was to create an intelligible style that referenced everyday Spanish life in opposition to Franco’s administration.

Toledo left the group shortly after their first exhibition, but Valdés and Solbes signed a manifesto in 1965 that established the group’s focus, which was to infuse the Pop Art movement with political meaning and to question Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, as well as the history of art. Valdés and Solbes continued their association until Solbe’s death in 1981, participating in over sixty solo and countless group exhibitions.

Following Solbe’s death and the end of the Franco regime, Valdés’ work took on new meaning. “I took out the political message from my work as it evolved,” said the artist in a 2016 interview with Studio International. “But, by the end of Equipo Crónica, our message had already changed, because we were now living in a democracy. We no longer had to fight for things that we had already fought for and achieved. So much time has passed and, if Equipo Crónica were still active, I have no idea what we’d be painting now.”

From this time, Valdés’ focus shifted toward art history and materiality. By reinventing recognizable images appropriated from historical masterpieces by iconic artists like Velázquez, Rembrandt, Goya, Picasso and Matisse, Valdés created works that are familiar but transformed by their modern context.  

 

To this day, Valdés uses whatever materials he can find, wood, aluminum, bronze, string, burlap, paper, mirror etc., to create large-scale (even monumental) works rooted in fragments from well-known artworks. These figures become a symbol of European art history and a point of connection for the spectator who is introduced to the Artist’s wit, his unique use of colour and texture, to works that fit somewhere between Pop Art and material art.

 

With an extensive artistic range that engages disparate media, Valdés produces witty yet historically informed works that recall the past through artistic innovation, works that explore art history and contemporary culture simultaneously, but whose materiality is the focus of the artist: “I must create something for which the materials are dominant, the subject is an excuse,” (from an interview with Prestige, 2017).

 

Landau Fine Art is proud to exhibit new works by this award-winning artist whose oeuvres is included in the great museums and private collections of the world including but not limited to: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice; Menil Foundation, Houston; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Modern Museet Art, Stockholm; Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; and the Museo Nacional Centre de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.

Public Collections

Akili Museum of Art, Jakarta, Indonesia

ARTIUM, Centro Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo, Vitoria, Spain

Centre d’Art Contemporain, Istres, France

Comune di Siena, Siena, Italy

Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Congreso de los Diputados, Madrid, Spain

Diputación Provincial de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Fonds National d’Arts Plastiques, Paris, France

Foundation Veranneman, Kruishoutem, Belgium

Frac-Collection Aquitaine, Aquitaine, France

Gemeinde Museum und Universität, Bremen, Germany

Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia, Spain

Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

Konstmuseum, Norrköpings, Sweden

Kunstmuseum, Berlin, Germany

Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

Musée Cantini, Marseille, France

Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble, France

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Musée Picasso, Antibes, France

Musei Vaticani, Collezione Arte Religiosa Moderna, Vatican City State

Museo de Albacete, Albacete, Spain

Museo de Antioquia, Bogotá, Columbia

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Cáceres, Spain

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, Spain

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Internacional Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Patio Herreriano, Valladolid, Spain

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Sofía Imber, Caracas, Venezuela

Museo de Arte Moderno, Medellín, Colombia

Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao, Spain

Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

Museo de Bellas Artes de Álava, Vitoria, Spain

Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Museo de la Asegurada, Alicante, Spain

Museo de la Solidaridad a Salvador Allende, Santiago, Chile

Museo Es Baluard, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain

Museo Würth, La Rioja, Agoncillo, Spain

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

Obra Social Fundación “la Caixa,” Barcelona, Spain

Pinacoteca do Estado, São Paulo, Brazil

Saastamoinen Foundation, Espoo, Finland

Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland

Senado Español, Madrid, Spain

State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York

Unión Española de Explosivos, Madrid, Spain

Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Elche, Spain

Würth Museum, Kunzelsau, Germany

Awards and Honours

2010 Medalla Internacional de las Artes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

2007 Officier de L’Ordre National du Mérite, Paris, France

2006 Premio Archival Spain 2005, Madrid, Spain

2006 Doctor Honoris Causa, University Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain

2005 Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Culturel, Ordonnance Souveraine, Monte Carlo, Monaco

2004 Premio Valenciano del siglo XXI, Las Provincias, Valencia, Spain

2002 Premio Asociación Española de Críticos de Arte de Estampa, Asociación Española de Críticos

de Arte, Madrid, Spain

2000 Premio Asociación Española de Críticos de Arte de Estampa, Asociación Española de Críticos

de Arte, Madrid, Spain

2000 Premio Asociación Española de Críticos de Arte ARCO, Asociación Española de Críticos de Arte,

Madrid, Spain

1999 Representative for Spain, Esposizione Internacional d’Art, Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy

1998 La Medalla de Oro de Mérito en Las Bellas Artes, Ministerio de Cultura de Spain, Madrid, Spain

1997 XXXIIe Prix du Conseil National, Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco

1993 Condecoración de la Orden de Andrés Bello en la Clase de Banda Honor, Caracas, Venezuela

1986 Medal of the Biennal, International Festival of the Plastic Arts, Baghdad, Iraq

1985 Medalla Nacional de Bellas Artes, Government of Spain, Madrid, Spain

1979 Silver medal, 2nd International Biennial of Prints, Tokyo, Japan

1979 Prize, Bridgestone Museum of Art, Lisbon, Portugal

1965 Premio Biella, Comune di Biella, Milan, Italy

Public Collections

Akili Museum of Art, Jakarta, Indonesia

ARTIUM, Centro Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo, Vitoria, Spain

Centre d’Art Contemporain, Istres, France

Comune di Siena, Siena, Italy

Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Congreso de los Diputados, Madrid, Spain

Diputación Provincial de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Fonds National d’Arts Plastiques, Paris, France

Foundation Veranneman, Kruishoutem, Belgium

Frac-Collection Aquitaine, Aquitaine, France

Gemeinde Museum und Universität, Bremen, Germany

Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia, Spain

Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

Konstmuseum, Norrköpings, Sweden

Kunstmuseum, Berlin, Germany

Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

Musée Cantini, Marseille, France

Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble, France

Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Musée Picasso, Antibes, France

Musei Vaticani, Collezione Arte Religiosa Moderna, Vatican City State

Museo de Albacete, Albacete, Spain

Museo de Antioquia, Bogotá, Columbia

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Cáceres, Spain

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, Spain

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Internacional Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Patio Herreriano, Valladolid, Spain

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Sofía Imber, Caracas, Venezuela

Museo de Arte Moderno, Medellín, Colombia

Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao, Spain

Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

Museo de Bellas Artes de Álava, Vitoria, Spain

Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Museo de la Asegurada, Alicante, Spain

Museo de la Solidaridad a Salvador Allende, Santiago, Chile

Museo Es Baluard, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain

Museo Würth, La Rioja, Agoncillo, Spain

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China

Obra Social Fundación “la Caixa,” Barcelona, Spain

Pinacoteca do Estado, São Paulo, Brazil

Saastamoinen Foundation, Espoo, Finland

Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland

Senado Español, Madrid, Spain

State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York

Unión Española de Explosivos, Madrid, Spain

Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Elche, Spain

Würth Museum, Kunzelsau, Germany

Awards and Honours

2010 Medalla Internacional de las Artes de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

2007 Officier de L’Ordre National du Mérite, Paris, France

2006 Premio Archival Spain 2005, Madrid, Spain

2006 Doctor Honoris Causa, University Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain

2005 Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Culturel, Ordonnance Souveraine, Monte Carlo, Monaco

2004 Premio Valenciano del siglo XXI, Las Provincias, Valencia, Spain

2002 Premio Asociación Española de Críticos de Arte de Estampa, Asociación Española de Críticos

de Arte, Madrid, Spain

2000 Premio Asociación Española de Críticos de Arte de Estampa, Asociación Española de Críticos

de Arte, Madrid, Spain

2000 Premio Asociación Española de Críticos de Arte ARCO, Asociación Española de Críticos de Arte,

Madrid, Spain

1999 Representative for Spain, Esposizione Internacional d’Art, Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy

1998 La Medalla de Oro de Mérito en Las Bellas Artes, Ministerio de Cultura de Spain, Madrid, Spain

1997 XXXIIe Prix du Conseil National, Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco

1993 Condecoración de la Orden de Andrés Bello en la Clase de Banda Honor, Caracas, Venezuela

1986 Medal of the Biennal, International Festival of the Plastic Arts, Baghdad, Iraq

1985 Medalla Nacional de Bellas Artes, Government of Spain, Madrid, Spain

1979 Silver medal, 2nd International Biennial of Prints, Tokyo, Japan

1979 Prize, Bridgestone Museum of Art, Lisbon, Portugal

1965 Premio Biella, Comune di Biella, Milan, Italy

biographycronica.jpg

Rafael Solbes and Manolo Valdés (Equipo Crónica) in 1972
© DACS 2015 Photo: Paco Alberola

We thank you for visiting our online exhibition. Please contact the gallery to find out more about this exceptional artist. 

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