José Marcelo Contreras y Muñoz (16 January 1827 – 1890/92) was a Spanish painter and art professor. Largely remembered as a painter of historical scenes, he also created portraits and

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

works.

Biography

He was born in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. His father, José Contreras Osorio (1794–1874), was an architect.Manuel Ossorio y Bernard, ''Galería biográfica de artistas españoles del siglo XIX'', Imprenta de Moreno y Rojas (1884)
Online
Initially dedicated to a career in business, he displayed a talent for art and began his training at the in Granada. He then worked in the studios of and . Following his graduation in 1847, he transferred to the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

in Madrid, where he studied with

Federico de Madrazo Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz (9 February 181510 June 1894) was a Spanish painter. Biography Born in Rome, he was the son of José de Madrazo y Agudo, the painter and former Director of the Prado Museum, and Isabel Kuntz Valentini. Federico's gra ...

and

Juan Antonio Ribera Juan Antonio Ribera Fernandez, also Juan Antonio de Ribera (May 27, 1779 – June 15, 1860) was a Spanish painter. Early life and career Ribera was born in Madrid, was a student of Francisco Bayeu y Subías, and probably had on occasion met wit ...

.Brief biography
@ the

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

In 1854, he moved to

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, where he had been appointed Director of the provincial museum. He spent two years preparing a catalog of the museum's collection, then briefly returned to Granada to marry Francisca Vilches. Back in Córdoba, he began accepting commissions from the local nobility. In 1860, he applied for several open teaching positions. After 1861, he devoted himself primarily to teaching, initially at the Escuela de Bellas Artes in

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

, then at a similar institution in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. During this time, he also held his first successful showings. In 1864, he participated in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts, presenting ''The Doubt of Saint Peter'', with which he won a second-class medal. It was later purchased by the

and, once again, he had clients among the nobility. The following year, grieving the death of his wife, he and his children relocated to Madrid, where he was named a Professor at the Academia. There, he became a regular participant in the National Exhibition, and began doing decorative work; including the curtain at the , a ceiling at the , the curtain and ceilings at the , and various decorations at the Basilica of San Francisco el Grande. He was named a Commander in the

Order of Isabel the Catholic The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and the Order of Civil Merit ...

. Contreras died in Grenada ca. 1890–1892.

References

External links

More works by Contreras
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Contreras, Jose Marcelo 1827 births 1890s deaths Year of death uncertain Spanish painters Spanish history painters Spanish genre painters Decorative arts Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni Artists from Granada