19th-20th Century Spanish

Daniel Vázquez Díaz was born on 15 January 1882 in Nerva (Huelva). In 1897 he began studying art in Seville, joining in the city’s cultural life, attending painting and drawing lessons at the Ateneo while at the same time studying at the Official Trade School. This was when he discovered that for him art was much more than just a simple hobby.

A staunch admirer of El Greco (1541-1614), Zurbarán (1598-1664) and Sorolla (1863-1923), in 1903 Vázquez Díaz moved to Madrid to begin his professional artist career. His application to enrol at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts was turned down, so he visited the Prado museum regularly to copy the works of the great masters, undertaking a self-taught approach. He then became acquainted with significant artists of the time, including Juan Gris (1887-1927) and Darío de Regoyos (1857-1913). He also took part in the National Fine Arts Exhibition in 1904, and again in 1906, when he obtained an honorary mention.

In 1906 Vázquez Díaz moved to Paris, where he was imbued with the spirit of the avant-gardes, particularly , whose language was instrumental in shaping his own visual vocabulary. During his time in Paris he befriended Picasso (1881-1973), Braque (1882-1963) and Modigliani (1884-1920), and some of the Spanish painters living there, particularly the circle of Basque artists around the sculptor Paco Durrio (1868-1940). A year after arriving in Paris he took part for the first time in the Salon d'Automne, and in 1909 in the . He would become an assiduous participant in both events until they were interrupted with the outbreak of World War I.

Little by little, Vázquez Díaz’s reputation grew steadily. In 1910 he began a career as an illustrator for a number of magazines while at the same time showing his work in many exhibitions including the Paris Salon National des Beaux Arts, where his works were accepted on several occasions.

In 1918 he settled definitively in Madrid. That same year, Salón Lacoste organised a solo show of his work, reviled by some Spanish art critics but well received by its more modern sector. The ensuing controversy encouraged the artist to persevere on the path of innovation and he started a relationship with the Residencia de Estudiantes. Two years later he joined the , a fact that speaks of Vázquez Díaz’s significant connection with Basque painting, highly receptive towards new formal postulates.

In 1921 he organised an exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid, together with his wife, the Danish sculptor Eva Aggerholm (1879-1959). It was then when he was recognized as the driving force behind the renewal of painting in Spain.

In 1922-1923 the artist travelled throughout Portugal, exhibiting in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra. There he came in touch with a group of futurist artists, and discovered the light and colour of the country, which he transferred to his work. His time in Portugal led to suites like Windows of Portugal and Scenes from Portugal, with works characterised by a luminist approach.

In 1925 he signed the Manifesto of the , although eventually he did not exhibit with them. He set up a studio in Madrid, where many major future artists trained. In those days he was already conceiving his project to decorate the Friary of La Rábida, a work he undertook in April 1930 which led to his definite consecration as an artist.

The beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 brought his art career to a halt. Focused on teaching, the painter remained in Madrid, where part of his work remained in storage until 1939.

The period between the 1940s and the 1960s saw an increase in his participation in prestigious exhibitions both in Spain and abroad. In turn, through his teaching activity he helped to popularise among younger generations of Spanish artists. José Caballero (1915-1991), Rafael Canogar (1935) and Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) were some of his pupils.

In his final years, Vázquez Díaz published his memoires in the newspaper ABC and in 1968 he was appointed a member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The artist died on 17 March 1969, five days after an homage paid to him in Huelva in recognition of his career.