Victor Moya

VÍCTOR MOYA CALVO (Valencia, 1890 - Barcelona, 1972).
"Young amazon".
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated at the bottom.
Measurements: 135 x 98,5 cm; 162 x 125 cm (frame).

Portrait of a woman who has just practiced horseback riding, as can be seen by the clothing, the whip and white gloves held in his delicate hands. The flushed cheeks and the fluffy hair, in addition to the country landscape, reinforce this idea and contribute to introduce a narrative in this romantic painting.

Víctor Moya began his training in the studio of José Mongrell Torrent and continued at the San Carlos School of Fine Arts in Valencia, where he was taught by Manuel Benedito, Andreu Sentamans and Pons Arnau. He made his individual debut when he was only thirteen years old, and in 1912 the Diputación de Valencia granted him a scholarship to further his studies in several European cities. Of special importance were his stays in Rome and Paris, where he came into contact with local artistic circles and visited museums and galleries. In 1914, Moya painted in Italy the large painting "Le Ciocciare" which, presented at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid in 1915, won him the third medal. The following year he returned to Valencia when the Provincial Council suspended his pensions and in 1917, knowing that his beloved teacher Mongrell was teaching at the School of Arts and Crafts in Barcelona, he moved to the Catalan capital, where he would remain until his death. In Barcelona he became friends with Cardona, Rusiñol, Urgell, Opisso, Martí Garcés, Junceda and Arturo Llopis, and held his first exhibition at the Sala Parés in 1918. His Barcelona studio was a true school of drawing and painting, where important figures of the following generations were formed. A member of the Royal Academy of San Carlos in Valencia since 1940, in 1942 he was named honorary member of the Salón de Otoño, and in 1944 a group of friends and colleagues dedicated a tribute to him in Barcelona. Víctor Moya's work is preserved in the National Museum of Havana, the Fine Arts Museums of Valencia and Lugo and in the National Museum of Art of Catalonia, as well as in the Provincial Councils of Valencia and Barcelona, and in other Spanish and American collections.