Luis Álvarez Catalá (1836 – 4 October 1901) was a Spanish painter of historical scenes and Director of 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 ...

from 1898 to 1901.

Biography

He is believed to have been born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, to an Asturian family from Cangas de Narcea, where he spent the summer seasons during his childhood. After finishing his primary education in

Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...

, he returned to Madrid, where he enrolled in the "Escuela Especial de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado" and was a student of

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. Federico's grandfather on his mother side ...

at 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 heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

.Biography
@ the Museo del Prado website. In 1857, he won a scholarship to study in Rome, together with

Eduardo Rosales Eduardo Rosales Gallinas (4 November 1836 – 13 September 1873) was a Spanish painter. He was an adherent of the Italian-based art movement known as " Purismo" and specialized in historical scenes. Biography He was born in Madrid. The second ...

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and

Dióscoro Puebla Dióscoro Teófilo Puebla Tolín (25 February 1831 – 24 October 1901) was a Spanish painter in the Eclectic style who specialized in portraits, genre and history painting. Biography Puebla was born in Melgar de Fernamental. His first studi ...

. After four years there, he won a Gold Medal at the first National Exposition of Florence for his painting '' Calpurnia's Dream'', which took second place at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts of Spain in 1862. Queen

Isabel II Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...

bought the painting and his scholarship was extended for three years. He was married in Rome, and ultimately remained there until 1894, with brief stays in Madrid. He continued to exhibit widely in Italy, Spain and Germany, winning awards in 1889 and 1890. Finally, he returned to Spain to accept the position of Deputy Director at the Museo del Prado and, four years later, was appointed Director by the Queen, following the resignation of

Francisco Pradilla Francisco Pradilla Ortiz (24 July 1848 – 1 November 1921) was a prolific Spanish painter famous for creating historical scenes. Biography He was born in Villanueva de Gállego, in Zaragoza Province and began his studies in Zaragoza. He ...

. His new Deputy was

Salvador Viniegra Salvador Viniegra y Lasso de la Vega (November 23, 1862 – April 29, 1915) was a Spanish historical painter and patron of the arts. Biography Born in Cádiz, Viniegra began studying law but soon decided to be a painter and entered the Escuel ...

. During his administration, he made several important acquisitions, including several works by

Francisco de Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

. In 1899, he produced a ''Catálogo ilustrado de la sala de Velázquez'' (Illustrated catalog of the Velázquez collection) and oversaw the installation of a statue of Velázquez by

Aniceto Marinas Aniceto Marinas García (born 17 April 1866 in Segovia – died 23 September 1953 in Madrid) was a Spanish sculptor. He studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, taking further studies at the . He became Director of the Real ...

. He also continued to paint, mainly producing works in the

costumbrista ''Costumbrismo'' (sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily in the Hispanic scene, and particularly in the 19t ...

style. In his last years, he created scenes inspired by his youth in Northern Spain, many of which are now at the

Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias The Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias ( es, Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias) is a museum in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. It is situated within three buildings: the Palacio de Velarde, the House of Oviedo-Portal, and the House of Solís-Carbajal. T ...

. He died in Madrid.

Selected works

File:The Flower Shop by Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Flower Shop'' File:The Unveiling by Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Unveiling'' File:Filandón, por Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Filandón'', a traditional evening community gathering
in León and Asturias File:Dressing for the Ball by Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''Dressing for the Ball'' File:La modelo del artista, por Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Artist's Model'' File:The Suitor by Luis Álvarez Catalá.jpg, ''The Suitor''

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Álvarez Catalá
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez Catala, Luis 1836 births 1901 deaths Directors of the Museo del Prado 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links