JULIÁN GRAU SANTOS (Canfranc, Huesca, 1937). "Sunset... Lot 47

JULIÁN GRAU SANTOS (Canfranc, Huesca, 1937). "Sunset in Cuenca". Oil on canvas. Signed on the lower right. Signed, titled and located on the back. With Sala Parés label on the back. Measurements: 73 x 60 cm; 101 x 88 cm (frame). Julián Grau Santos was linked from a very young age to the city of Cuenca, where he lived in the sixties at the height of the effervescence of abstract art, although his painting was figurative in nature. Grau Santos, especially known for his portraits, landscapes and still lifes, and to whom the writer Raúl Torres dedicated the book 'La Cuenca de Grau Santos', has never considered himself a classical painter, but "modern, because I live, and I like all painting of good taste, abstract painting and painters such as Mondrian, Matisse, Bonart, Picasso. I have always been very open-minded". Son of Emilio Grau Sala and Ángeles Santos Torroella, he trained in Barcelona. In 1949 he made several trips to Paris, where he had the opportunity to see first-hand works by Sisley, Van Gogh and various Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. He held his first solo exhibition at the Sala Libros in Saragossa in 1957. Since then he has held solo exhibitions at the Syra, Rovira and Vayreda galleries in Barcelona; Alas, Abril, El Cisne, Collage and Biosca in Madrid; Justin Lester in Los Angeles, Art Roman in Tokyo, etc. Since 1966 he has exhibited regularly as a solo artist at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, and in 1968 he took part in the Salon des Artistes Français at the Grand Palais in Madrid. His work, linked to expressionism and very much based on colour, is characterised by a very elaborate technique and a profound knowledge of drawing. He also produced numerous drawings, which were published in various newspapers and magazines. His awards include the La Rambla Prize (Barcelona, 1961), the Ramón Rogent Medal (Salón de Mayo, Barcelona, 1962), the medal of the Fine Arts Exhibition (Madrid, 1961), the 3rd Sant Jordi Prize and Van Gogh Prize (Barcelona, 1963), the City of Barcelona Medal (1965), the Huesca Painting Biennial Prize (1976), the Countess of Barcelona Medal (Madrid, 1983) and the Medal of Honour in the BMW Competition (Madrid, 1987). In recent years he has participated in the ARCO fairs in Madrid and ARTEXPO in Valencia, Barcelona, Basel, New York, Chicago, Miami and Hong Kong. In 1993 the Mapfre Vida Foundation in Madrid dedicated a retrospective exhibition to him.