José Garnelo y Alda

JOSÉ GARNELO Y ALDA (Enguera,1866 - Montilla, 1944)
"Grove of trees".
Oil on panel.
Signed in lower right corner.
Measurements: 20 x 31,50 cm., 29 x 40,50 cm. (frame).
José Santiago Garnelo began his training in Montilla and Cabra, to finally enter the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, in Madrid, where he was an outstanding disciple of Castro Plasencia. During his time as a student he received several awards, such as the Colorido Medal in the 1885-85 academic year, and in 1888 he obtained a scholarship to Rome. In the Italian capital he will have as companions Sorolla and Villegas Cordero, among others. Once back in Spain, in 1893 he was appointed professor at the School of Fine Arts in Zaragoza, beginning a brilliant teaching career that would later take him to the Schools of Fine Arts in Cadiz and Barcelona, the latter city where he counted Pablo Picasso among his students. He was appointed academician of San Fernando in 1912, and three years later he was appointed deputy director of the Prado Museum. Also, from 1936 he directed the Spanish Academy in Rome. Garnelo sent his works to the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts, being awarded the second medal in 1877 and 1890 and the first in 1892. He also won the competition of the Royal Academy of San Fernando in 1894, and was awarded an honorable mention at the Paris Salon in 1896 and a gold medal at the National Exhibition in Valencia in 1910. At the same time, he held exhibitions in the main Spanish capitals, as well as in Paris, London, Berlin and Chicago. He is currently represented in the Fine Arts Museums of Valencia and Seville, the one that bears his name in Montilla, the Aranjuez Palace in Madrid and the Naval Museum of the same city, among other public and private collections.