Nicolás Megía Márquez (6 December 1845 – 15 April 1917) was a Spanish painter in the

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

and Realistic styles. He was known mostly for historical

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 ...

paintings; many of which were watercolors.

Biography

He was born in Fuente de Cantos, and received his first art instruction at the "Escuela Especial de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado", a branch of 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 ...

, where he studied from 1866 to 1870 with

Domingo Valdivieso Domingo Valdivieso y Henarejos (30 August 1830 – 22 November 1872) was a Spanish painter and engraver in the Academic style. Biography Valdivieso was born in Mazarrón, where his father was an officer in the Spanish Army.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 ...

.Brief biography
@ 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 ...

. After graduating, he received a stipend from the , which enabled him to study abroad. From 1872 to 1878, he studied in Rome with

Marià Fortuny Marià Josep Maria Bernat Fortuny i Marsal (; es, Mariano José María Bernardo Fortuny y Marsal; June 11, 1838 – November 21, 1874), known more simply as Marià Fortuny or Mariano Fortuny, was the leading Spanish painter of his day, with an ...

and at the Accademia Chigi, where he was influenced by the

Macchiaioli The Macchiaioli () were a group of Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century. They strayed from antiquated conventions taught by the Italian art academies, and did much of their painting outdoors in order to ...

. He then went to Paris and worked with

Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (; 21 February 181531 January 1891) was a French Classicist painter and sculptor famous for his depictions of Napoleon, his armies and military themes. He documented sieges and manoeuvres and was the teacher of Édo ...

until 1880. By this time, he was already very popular with art dealers. His works were distributed throughout Europe and North America by a German firm. In 1880, he participated in the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

, presenting his historical genre work "Laboremus" at a time when most of the exhibitors were

impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

. Upon returning to Madrid, his successes led him to important positions in several art-related organizations, including the presidency of the Sociedad de Aquarellistas (watercolorists) and the chair of painting at the Escuela Superior de Artes e Industrias. He was appointed a tutor to the sisters of King

Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 188 ...

. He was a regular participant in the exhibitions at the

Círculo de Bellas Artes The Círculo de Bellas Artes is a private, non-profit, cultural organization that was founded in 1880. Its building, located in Madrid, Spain, was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural'' in 1981. The CBA is a major multidisciplinary centre with one ...

and the National Exhibition of Fine Arts, where he won second prize in 1890 for his portrayal of a scene from the defense of Zaragoza. After his death in 1917, he was somewhat forgotten. In 1995, there was an attempt to stage a retrospective at the , to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth, but it never came to fruition due to lack of funds. In 2002, the first monograph of Megía was published by the Fundación Caja de Badajoz. Finally, in 2011, the museum was able to stage a retrospective but, despite a great deal of effort put into locating and restoring his canvases, received negative criticism for focusing on his most Academic works, which were not considered representative. He died 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 ...

, aged 71.

References

External links

"Nicolás Megía Márquez y dos lienzos inéditos de temática religiosa1" by Maria Teresa Rodríguez Prieto, Diputación de Badajoz
"El Muba reúne la obra de Nicolás Megía en una gran exposición"
from La Crónica de Badajoz'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Megia, Nicolas 1845 births 1917 deaths 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters 20th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish male artists Spanish genre painters Spanish portrait painters People from Tentudía Spanish watercolourists

Biography

References

Further reading

External links