Painter and architect Joaquín Vaquero Palacios staged his first exhibition in the city of his birth when he was just sixteen. He studied at the School of Architecture in Madrid, where he also spent time painting. Major commissions included the Monument to Columbus (Huelva) with Luis Moya, for which he received the First Place Medal at the 1930 National Fine Arts Award. He travelled to Paris, the United States and South America.

Vaquero Palacios was part of the post-war artistic scene, in which he was actively involved. He received the Second Place Medal at the 1941 and the First Place Medal at the 1952 National Fine Arts Exhibitions; he was awarded the Minister of the Army Prize, First Place Medal at the 1942 Barcelona Exhibition and the 1957 Barcelona City Council Prize. He produced murals, fine examples of which can be seen at the San Salvador Casino and on many Spanish public buildings, on which he worked with his son Joaquín Vaquero Turcios. Vaquero Palacios was a member of the San Fernando Academy and the secretary and Deputy Director of the Spanish Academy of Fine Arts in Rome from 1950 to 1960. He and his son produced the Monument to the Discovery of America that stands in the square dedicated to Columbus in Madrid.

• Julián Gállego Serrano
• María José Alonso