19th-20th Century Spanish

Started training as a pupil of Manuel Domínguez (1840-1906) before moving to Rome with a scholarship, where he continued studying at the Spanish Academy.

His realist style featuring regionalist scenes and characters from Galicia was highly appreciated in America, where he even created a movement, particularly after he started teaching at the School of Fine Arts of Chile, to which he was appointed director in 1911.

In 1918 he returned to Spain to take up the post of Deputy Director at the Prado. In 1921 he was promoted to director of Spain’s foremost museum, a position he held until the declaration of the Republic in 1931. He regained the post in 1939 after the Civil War and maintained it until his death in 1960.

His work was awarded at a number of exhibitions and events held in Spain and abroad, winning a First Medal at the 1906 and a medal at the one in 1912. He also won the highest prize at the International Exhibitions in Barcelona in 1907, Munich in 1909, and Buenos Aires in 1910.

An accomplished portraitist and drawing artist, Álvarez de Sotomayor cultivated all genres, proving his mastery in the handling of composition, light and colour. His work is clearly influenced by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) and by Flemish painting, particularly Franz Hals (1582-1666).