Capitán Nemo [Captain Nemo]

Capitán Nemo [Captain Nemo]

  • 1990-1991
  • Synthetic enamel, metal applications and paper on board
  • 110 x 62 cm
  • Cat. P_499
  • Acquired in 1991
By:
BDE Banco de España

José de León's work can be classed as surrealist and influenced by Tanguy, Miró, Dalí, De Chirico, Boecklin and Hieronymus Bosch. His large-format paintings blend these influences with the avant garde of the first half of the 20th century, resulting in a narrative and a composition linked with tradition, religious feeling and popular customs. His use of techniques with a lacquer effect on board gives his works an archaic look.

BDE Banco de España

 
By:
Frederic Montornés
José de León
Carbajal de Fuentes (León) 1958

José de León trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid from 1978 to 1983. In 1985 he set himself up at La Nave in Madrid, where he shared a studio sporadically with other artists and staged exhibitions until 1997. In the late 1980s he obtained at Fulbright scholarship that enabled him to travel to New York to extend his knowledge and experience. In 1993 and 1994 he studied at the Spanish Academy in Rome under a grant from the Spanish Foreign Ministry, and in 2002 he moved to Paris, where he lived until 2004. In 2004 and 2005 he made at least three trips to India. In 2007 he moved to Berlin for a one-year residency at the GlogauAir art venue, and from 2010 to 2012 he lived in Beijing, where he threw himself into Chinese art with the same enthusiasm as he did with everything else in his life.

His first exhibition was at the Sala Provincia gallery in León (1980). Since then his works have been shown at many galleries and venues such as the Palace of Nations in Geneva (Switzerland, 1985), the Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid, 2003), the León Auditorium (2003), the Kunsthaus Bethanien (Berlin, 2009), the Cazario de León (La Baña, León, 2014) and the León Museum (2015).

Frederic Montornés

 
 
Vv.Aa. Colección Banco de España. Catálogo razonado, Madrid, Banco de España, 2019, vol. 3.