Eduardo Arroyo

Madrid, 1937

He is considered to be one of the foremost representatives of narrative figuration, and is outstanding for the importance of the political and social criticism reflected by his works. Most notable is his skill for mixing pre-existing images from varying sources with the strong imprint of an illustrator.

After completing his studies in journalism in 1957, he moved to Paris, where he contacted Spanish civil war exiles, accentuating his political criticism of Franco’s regime which had been very patent since his first works. During this period he developed a highly critical thematic, not only towards the events around him, but towards the artists spearheading the cultural avant-garde, such as Duchamp and Miró.

He lived in the French capital in the sixties and seventies, and it was there that he began to exhibit his works. In 1960, he presented his painting “La corrida de las mariposas” (Butterflyfight), and a year later his first individual exhibition at the Claude Levin Gallery comprised a series of portraits of military and ecclesiastical personalities. His style at the time was a critical figuration deriving from pop art with iconographic elements that combined the de-mythification of art with political criticism, as well as Dadaist and super-realist influences.

Because of his political position his work was almost unknown in Spain. His exhibition at the Biosca gallery in Madrid in 1963, a series of portraits of dictators such as Hitler, Franco or Mussolini, was censored. Years later, once democracy had been established, and as he was being discovered, he also achieved recognition, including the National Painting Award in 1982, a retrospective exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou in the same year and one at the Reina Sofía Museum in 1998.

A versatile artist, writer, designer of theatre scenographies and posters, and illustrator of literary works including the Bible or Don Quixote, his work can be seen at the main contemporary art museums of Spain and abroad, as well as at the main institutional collections (public administrations, financial institutions, corporations,…).

1999 Eduardo Arroyo Unión Española de Explosivos Oil on canvas 64 x 50 cm.