Ricardo de los Ríos (1846,

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

- May 1929,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

) was a Spanish painter, engraver,

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

and illustrator. He spent most of his early career in Paris.

Biography

He studied painting with

Isidore Pils Isidore-Alexandre-Augustin Pils (1815–1875) was a French academic painter of religious and military subjects. Biography Pils was born in Paris as the son of a soldier François Pils. At the age of twelve, he studied with Guillaume Guillon-Le ...

, at the

École des Beaux-Arts de Paris The (), formally the (), is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level fine arts education and training. The art school, which is part of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is located on two sites: Saint-G ...

. His initial works comprised battle scenes, portraits,

still-life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...

s and interiors, as well as copies of the masters. His first exhibit came at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

in 1867. Three years later, he was able to open a studio on the

Boulevard du Montparnasse The Boulevard du Montparnasse () is a two-way boulevard in Montparnasse, in the 6th, 14th and 15th arrondissements of Paris. Situation The boulevard runs south-eastward from the Place Léon-Paul Fargue to the Port-Royal ( Place Camille Jul ...

. Most of his oeuvre consists of etchings. He is known to have associated with the group of etchers led by Alfred Cadart, founder of the Société des Aquafortistes, and may have been given lessons by one of its members. Several of his works appeared in Cadart's publications from 1876 to 1881. He became an associate member of the

Société des Artistes Français The Société des Artistes Français (, meaning "Society of French Artists") is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the "Salon des artistes français" (not to be confused with the ...

, and exhibited at their salon until 1899; as well as with the

Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; ) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions. 1862 Established in 1862 by the painter a ...

from 1890 to 1894. He was awarded a silver medal at the

Exposition Universelle (1889) The of 1889 (), better known in English as the 1889 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 6 May to 31 October 1889. It was the fifth of ten major expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937. It attracted more t ...

, and had a small showing at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in Chicago (1893). For several years, he was represented in the United States by the famous

Knoedler M. Knoedler & Co. () was an art dealership in New York City founded in 1846. When it closed in 2011, amid lawsuits for fraud, it was one of the oldest commercial art galleries in the US, having been in operation for 165 years. History Knoedler ...

art dealership. In 1899, he returned to Spain, where he succeeded as Professor of Engraving 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 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.Antonio Gallego, ''Historia del grabado en España''. Madrid: Cátedra, 1999 He apparently did very little original work after that. He is primarily remembered for his etched illustrations of classic works; by

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his no ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, Balzac and

Alain-René Lesage Alain-René Lesage (; 6 May 166817 November 1747; older spelling Le Sage) was a French novelist and playwright. Lesage is best known for his comic novel '' The Devil upon Two Sticks'' (1707, ''Le Diable boiteux''), his comedy '' Turcaret'' (170 ...

, among others. He also did engraved portraits of notable people, such as

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

and

Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the last of which wa ...

, as well as his fellow Spanish artists.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rios, Ricardo de los 1846 births 1929 deaths 19th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish engravers 20th-century Spanish engravers 19th-century Spanish illustrators 20th-century Spanish illustrators People from Valladolid

Biography

References

Further reading

External links