Francisco Mateos González
Seville 1894 - Madrid 1976

Francisco Mateos González studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Madrid. From the beginning of his career, he worked as a cartoonist in several Spanish magazines including España, directed by Ortega y Gasset, and La Esfera and Nuevo Mundo, run by Adriano del Valle. In 1921 the Ministry of State awarded him a grant that enabled him to travel to Belgium and Germany, where he studied engraving and came into contact with members of the Der Blaue Reiter group. In 1928 he was appointed official decorator of the Sorbonne University and in 1930 he returned to Spain, where he held solo and group exhibitions in several galleries and institutions. His work was shown in the Spanish Pavilion at the International Exposition in Paris (1937) and at the Museum of Modern Art (Madrid, 1948) and the Galerías Layetanas (Madrid, 1950).

In his expressionist oil paintings, watercolours and drawings, Mateos depicts scenes in which sinister and picturesque characters abound. Considered to be one of the leading representatives of expressionism in Spain, Mateos shows scenes of decay and decadence set in decrepit panoramas, depicting circus-like subjects, whose apparently cheerful countenances exude an underlying sense of grief and loneliness, evoking a sense that they have been forgotten and marginalised. Painted with a clear, vibrant palette, Mateos's works emanate an indisputably fantastic tone with a strong critical and satirical component.

Frederic Montornés