CASIMIRO GRACIA RAGA (Ayora, 1898 - 1985). "Still... Lot 23

CASIMIRO GRACIA RAGA (Ayora, 1898 - 1985). "Still life", 1940. Oil on canvas. Signed, located and dated in the lower right-hand corner. Measurements: 82 x 100 cm; 99 x 119 cm (frame). Casimiro Gracia Rafa was a Valencian painter born in 1898. In his youth, he worked in a mechanical workshop as a bronze worker. He attended the studio of the painter Teodoro Andreu, who gave him his first lessons and guided him in his vocation. In 1915 he entered the San Carlos School of Fine Arts and during his student years he frequented the Juventud Artística Valenciana association. He graduated with brilliant marks and was awarded the "Roig" prize. When he finished his studies, he moved to Madrid, where he came into contact with the most outstanding masters. In 1929 he made himself known in the capital in a solo exhibition held in the Madrid Athenaeum, which was a great success with the public and critics. In 1935 he travelled to Palma de Mallorca, where he remained for several months, devoting himself entirely to painting. That same year he was awarded the pension of Count of Cartagena. During the Civil War he was a member of the Board for the Protection of Artistic Heritage and of the Alliance of Anti-Fascist Intellectuals of Valencia. He participated with a work in the Pavilion of the Second Spanish Republic at the International Exhibition in Paris in 1937. As a painter he developed a body of work in the great Spanish academicist tradition. He was an admirer of Ribalta, Espinosa, Velázquez, Navarrete and Sorolla. He mastered all artistic genres and exhibited his work in the most important Spanish cities. Many of his works can be found in various museums and private collections in Spain and abroad. He died in Valencia in 1985.