20th Century Spanish

A Spaniard of Cuban descent, his real name was Francisco Gutiérrez Cossío. Still as an infant, his family left San Diego de los Baños in Cuba and moved to Cantabria in Spain.

In Santander he was a disciple of Francisco Rivero (1899-1972), and in Madrid of Cecilio Pla (1860-1934). His first works, executed in a realist style and largely addressing sea themes, departed from academicism with a very bold use of colour.

He lived in Paris from 1923 to 1932, where he attracted some attention thanks to the patronage of Christian Zervos. He took an active role in the art scene in Paris alongside members of the so-called . At this time he mined the expressive potential of painterly matter through a constantly renewed technical experimentation.

After temporarily quitting painting in favour of politics, he reappeared in the mid 1940s, creating portraits and still lifes and taking part in the School of Altamira. In 1962 he obtained the Honorary Medal at the National Fine Arts Exposition.

In his later years he returned to sea themes and to still lifes. However, the motifs were increasingly more tenuous thanks to his signature transparent and mottled affects, further diffused in the glaring light.