Gonzalo Pérez Espolita

GONZALO PÉREZ ESPOLITA (Avilés,1901-Oviedo,1966).
"Portrait of a man".
Charcoal on paper.
Presents foxing and some wrinkles.
Without signature.
Measurements: 17 x 15 cm; 36 x 34 cm (frame).

Gonzalo Perez Espolita was part of the first generations of Asturian art of the 20th century. He received his first technical classes at the School of Arts and Crafts in Avilés. In 1922, with the arrival in the city of the critic José Francés, a series of exhibitions began that would have great repercussions in Asturian artistic circles. In the same year of 1922, thanks to his participation in the first of these exhibitions, organized by the Society of Friends of Art, the City Council of Avilés granted him a meager scholarship to study at the Special School of Painting (Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando) in Madrid. He participated in all the exhibitions promoted by José Francés, including the Exhibition of Asturian Artists that took place in the National Library, organized by the newspaper Heraldo de Madrid, in 1926. He presented his work at the International Painting Exhibition, held under the umbrella of the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona, in 1929. His first individual exhibition was not held until 1944, in the Casino of Avilés. The last part of his life was dedicated to teaching in his studio. Two of his most outstanding commissions are: El descubrimiento, a large canvas for the Asturian Center in Havana, and, around 1940, the frescoes for the church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Villalegre, Avilés.