Alfredo Alcaín studied at the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando and then specialised in engraving and lithography at the National School of Graphic Arts. He was particularly prolific in this medium during his artistic career. He also studied film set design at the National Cinema School in Madrid, thanks to which he has occasionally worked on film and theatre productions.
His work has ranged from painting to illustration, collage, sculpture and engraving. His first solo show was held in Madrid in 1962. During the 1960s and 1970s, he developed his personal contribution between pop art and critical realism as a reaction to Abstract Informalism. However, Alcaín never approved of being lumped under that English-language heading: “They included me in it, although I was never really completely part of pop art”. Nonetheless, in keeping with international aesthetic trends, his work shifted to painting with less social discourse in the 1980s. He drew on the art sources of the avant-garde and the expressive parameters of Cubism. He added objects to paintings, calling into question the modern dichotomy between the two- and three-dimensional. In recent decades, Alcaín has opted for a technique linked to geometric abstraction: ‘I am walking towards a precipice, with very linear and synthetic paintings, which depart from figuration’.
Alcaín won the National Award for Plastic Arts (2003). His work has been exhibited in solo shows at museums and private galleries, including the Saint Eloy School of Noble and Fine Arts (Salamanca, 1968); the Valle Santoro Palace (Sangüesa, 1980); Bilbao Fine Arts Museum (1981); la Casa de Los Picos (Segovia, 1994); Malaga University (1997); the Antonio Pérez Foundation (Cuenca, 2001); and Sala Rekalde (Bilbao, 2012).
Alfredo Alcaín studied at the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando and then specialised in engraving and lithography at the National School of Graphic Arts. He was particularly prolific in this medium during his artistic career. He also studied film set design at the National Cinema School in Madrid, thanks to which he has occasionally worked on film and theatre productions.
His work has ranged from painting to illustration, collage, sculpture and engraving. His first solo show was held in Madrid in 1962. During the 1960s and 1970s, he developed his personal contribution between pop art and critical realism as a reaction to Abstract Informalism. However, Alcaín never approved of being lumped under that English-language heading: “They included me in it, although I was never really completely part of pop art”. Nonetheless, in keeping with international aesthetic trends, his work shifted to painting with less social discourse in the 1980s. He drew on the art sources of the avant-garde and the expressive parameters of Cubism. He added objects to paintings, calling into question the modern dichotomy between the two- and three-dimensional. In recent decades, Alcaín has opted for a technique linked to geometric abstraction: ‘I am walking towards a precipice, with very linear and synthetic paintings, which depart from figuration’.
Alcaín won the National Award for Plastic Arts (2003). His work has been exhibited in solo shows at museums and private galleries, including the Saint Eloy School of Noble and Fine Arts (Salamanca, 1968); the Valle Santoro Palace (Sangüesa, 1980); Bilbao Fine Arts Museum (1981); la Casa de Los Picos (Segovia, 1994); Malaga University (1997); the Antonio Pérez Foundation (Cuenca, 2001); and Sala Rekalde (Bilbao, 2012).