Manuel Benedito i Vives was a follower of Joaquín Sorolla and a student at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1897 he won a Third-place Medal at the National Fine Arts Exhibition and two years later he obtained a place at the Spanish Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, along with Eduardo Chicharro and Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor. Between 1904 and 1906 he won several major awards: a First-place Medal at the Exposición de Bellas Artes in 1904, a Second-place medal at the Universal Exhibition in Munich and another First-place Medal at the National Exhibition. He won a Third-place Medal at the Paris Salon, a Second-place Medal at the International Exhibition in Barcelona in 1907 and a First-place Medal at the Hispano-French Exposition in Zaragoza in 1908. At that time he travelled around France and Holland, where he honed his technique. He painted some major portraits, still-lifes such as Capra Hispánica and countryside scenes from Spain, Holland and Brittany. During his lifetime he was granted numerous honours: he became a Member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando (1924), he took over from his maestro Sorolla as a teacher of Colour and Composition at the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Madrid and ran the Real Fábrica de Tapices tapestry mill. He also staged a large number of exhibitions. In 1949 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the city of Valencia. Twelve years after his death a museum dedicated to him opened in Madrid, showing works that he had bequeathed for that purpose.

Beatriz Cordero