Juan Manuel Díaz Caneja studied under Vázquez Díaz in Madrid for seven years. He travelled to Paris and his work was exhibited at the Mayo Salon in the French capital. Díaz Caneja mainly produced extremely serious landscapes, based on a certain cubism with Fauve overtones, close to abstraction; in these there is a predominant use of ochres, employed repetitively, as is also the case in his Land of Fields and in the still-lifes. He participated in the legendary Salón de los Ibéricos in Madrid in 1925, and was part of the circle of painters at the Residencia de Estudiantes, the student accommodation that became a hotbed for artists, writers and intellectuals, and the School of Vallecas. His first solo show was at the Madrid Modern Art Museum in 1934, where he exhibited again in 1953. Diaz Caneja was awarded the Third-Place Medal at the National Fine Arts exhibitions in 1954 and the Second-Place Medal in 1957 and took First Place in 1962. He was a prize-winner in the 1958 National Painting Contest and the competition run by Madrid City Council in 1960. He received the National Award for Plastic Arts in 1980. In 1994, an anthological exhibition of his work was held at the Conde Duque Centre of Madrid. The Díaz-Caneja Foundation was opened in Palencia the following year and the IVAM held a retrospective of his work two years later.
Juan Manuel Díaz Caneja studied under Vázquez Díaz in Madrid for seven years. He travelled to Paris and his work was exhibited at the Mayo Salon in the French capital. Díaz Caneja mainly produced extremely serious landscapes, based on a certain cubism with Fauve overtones, close to abstraction; in these there is a predominant use of ochres, employed repetitively, as is also the case in his Land of Fields and in the still-lifes. He participated in the legendary Salón de los Ibéricos in Madrid in 1925, and was part of the circle of painters at the Residencia de Estudiantes, the student accommodation that became a hotbed for artists, writers and intellectuals, and the School of Vallecas. His first solo show was at the Madrid Modern Art Museum in 1934, where he exhibited again in 1953. Diaz Caneja was awarded the Third-Place Medal at the National Fine Arts exhibitions in 1954 and the Second-Place Medal in 1957 and took First Place in 1962. He was a prize-winner in the 1958 National Painting Contest and the competition run by Madrid City Council in 1960. He received the National Award for Plastic Arts in 1980. In 1994, an anthological exhibition of his work was held at the Conde Duque Centre of Madrid. The Díaz-Caneja Foundation was opened in Palencia the following year and the IVAM held a retrospective of his work two years later.