Francisco Hohenleiter

FRANCISCO HOHENLEITER DE CASTRO (Cadiz, 1889 - Seville, 1968).
"Majos".
Oil on panel (x2).
Signed in the lower right area.
Measurements: 31 x 20 cm (x2); 40 x 29 x 3cm (frames, x2).
Francisco Hohenleiter began his training in El Puerto de Santa María, and in 1918 he moved to Seville, settling permanently in the city. An elegant, colourful painter, he soon became a leading figure in mural decoration and, above all, in posters, magazine illustration and book illustration. His works combine influences from different styles such as modernism, genre painting and romanticism. Through his posters in the 1920s he reinvented Holy Week in Seville, with works based on the use of colour and decorative lines. As a painter he focused on portraiture, landscape and the depiction of popular types, mainly majos, as well as genre scenes. He also produced nudes, church interiors and still lifes. Throughout his career he showed his work in various Spanish cities and also in Paris, with an outstanding exhibition at the Charpentier gallery in 1932. Francisco Hohenleiter's painting is rooted in that of Jiménez Aranda and García Ramos and is inspired by Goya and Alenza. He became the glosador of romantic Seville, the portraitist of the Andalusia set to music by Albéniz. His work is currently scattered all over Andalusia: murals, posters, hand programmes, etc. Today he is represented in various museums and private collections.