Casimiro Gracia Raga

CASIMIRO GRACIA RAGA (Ayora, 1898 - 1985).
"The sands", Valencia, 1940.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner. Signed and dated on the back.
Measurements: 42,50 x 50 cm; 59 x 7,50 cm (frame).
Casimiro Gracia Raga was a Valencian painter born in 1898. In his youth, he worked in a mechanical workshop as a bronze worker. He attended the studio of the painter Teodoro Andreu, who gave him his first lessons and guided him in his vocation. In 1915 he entered the School of Fine Arts of San Carlos and during his student years he frequented the association Juventud Artística Valenciana. He graduated with brilliant grades and obtained the "Roig" prize. After finishing his studies he moved to Madrid, where he came into contact with the most outstanding masters. In 1929 he became known in the capital in a solo exhibition held at the Ateneo de Madrid, which was a great success with the public and critics. In 1935 he traveled to Palma de Mallorca, where he stayed for several months, devoting himself entirely to painting. That same year he was granted the pension of Count of Cartagena. During the Civil War he was a member of the Board for the Protection of Artistic Heritage and the Alliance of Anti-Fascist Intellectuals of Valencia. He participated with a work in the Pavilion of the Second Spanish Republic in the International Exhibition of Paris in 1937. As a painter he developed a work in the great Spanish academicist tradition. He was an admirer of Ribalta, Espinosa, Velázquez, Navarrete and Sorolla. He mastered all artistic genres and exhibited his work in the main Spanish cities. Many of his works are in various museums and private collections in Spain and abroad. He died in Valencia in 1985.