Aurelio García Lesmes (8 July 1884, Valladolid – 25 March 1942, Mexico City) was a Spanish landscape painter who later became a citizen of Mexico.

Biography

At a very early age, he entered the School of Arts and Crafts in his hometown, where he studied with

José Martí y Monsó José Martí y Monsó (4 January 1840, Valencia - 14 December 1912, Valladolid) was a Spanish painter, art professor, researcher and museum official. He was considered an expert on Castile (historical region), Castilian art and the history of H ...

. In 1903, he was awarded a government grant to study at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. There, he studied with

Antonio Muñoz Degrain Antonio Muñoz Degrain (18 November 1840 – 12 October 1924) was a Spanish painter who began in the Eclectic style, later in his career he moved towards Impressionism. He is best known for his landscapes and scenes inspired by works of liter ...

, who inspired him to become a landscape painter.Biography
@ the

Real Academia de la Historia The Real Academia de la Historia (RAH, 'Royal Academy of History') is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the diff ...

After 1906, he became a regular participant in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts, and won several awards, culminating in 1926 with a First Class prize for "The Fields of

Zaratán Zaratán is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 2,115 inhabitants. See also *Cuisine of the province of Valladolid ...

. After that success, he chose to return to Valladolid, becoming a drawing teacher at the Instituto Núñez de Arce. His first major personal exhibition came at the Museo de Arte Moderno (Madrid) in 1931. During the Second Spanish Republic, he obtained an appointment as a drawing professor in Valladolid. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War found him in Madrid, separated from his wife, Luisa, whom he would never see again. As a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, he spent the war creating propaganda posters and murals. During the

Siege of Madrid The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican-controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from Octo ...

, he helped to rescue works from the

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

, moving them to Valencia, where he settled in 1937. There, he was able to obtain another professorial appointment in Orihuela. This lasted for only a very short time before he moved to Barcelona, where he continued his previous propaganda efforts and taught drawing at the Labor Institute. Just before the end of the war, he fled to France and, in May 1939, departed for Mexico, together with a large number of other exiles. He aettled in Mexico City, opened a small studio, and obtained yet another appointment as a professor at the . He maintained close contact with his fellow Spanish refugees and was granted Mexican citizenship in 1941. The following year, he was struck and killed by the driver of a vehicle while crossing a street.

References

Brief biography
@ MCN Biografias

External links

@ Arte Valladolid (blog) {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Lesmes, Aurelio 1884 births 1942 deaths Spanish painters Spanish landscape painters People from Valladolid Spanish socialists Spanish emigrants to Mexico Road incident deaths in Mexico Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni Pedestrian road incident deaths