Arroyo, Eduardo

EDUARDO ARROYO BIOGRAPHY:

Madrid, 1937.
Considered a key figure of the "new Spanish figuration", Arroyo came to prominence in the national art circuit belatedly, starting in the 80's, after a two-decade-long stay away forced by Franco's regime. Currently, his works are exhibited in the most prestigious museums and his creativity can also be found in his theatrical scenographies and illustrated editions.

After finishing his journalism degree (1957), Arroyo moved to Paris to escape the suffocating atmosphere of Franco's regime. He left behind a first stage as a caricaturist and alternated writing with painting, and by 1960 he was already living from his work as a painter. His critical attitude towards dictatorships, both political and artistic, pushed him to controversial initiatives. He opted for figurative painting in years of overwhelming dominance of abstract painting in Paris. His first themes evoked "black Spain" (effigies of Philip II, bullfighters, dancers), but with a caustic and unromantic approach. From a matteric style of color, Arroyo would move on to a technique more typical of "pop art", with bright colors and smoother brushstrokes. An early example of this is "Robinson Crusoe", 1965 (Lausanne, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts).

Arroyo exhibited in a group show in Paris as early as 1960 ("Salon de la Joven Pintura"), but his first public impact came three years later, when he presented a series of effigies of dictators at the III Biennial of Paris, which provoked protests from the Spanish government. That same year, in 1963, Arroyo prepared an exhibition at the Biosca Gallery in Madrid, which opened without his presence, as he had to flee to France, pursued by the police. The exhibition was censored and closed soon after.

Arroyo's figurative option took a long time to be accepted in Paris. His first more or less stable clientele was Italian and thanks to his sales in Italy he was able to live in France. Arroyo rejected the unconditional devotion to some avant-gardists (Marcel Duchamp, Milan), which he considered imposed by fashions. Although he has been labeled a reactionary, in reality he is doubly rebellious: he demystifies the great masters and defends the role of the market as protector and thermometer of art, as opposed to the network of museums and influences paid for with public money.

Arroyo ridicules and "reinterprets" Spanish clichés with surrealist touches. An example of this is the painting "Spanish Gentleman", where the protagonist poses in an evening dress (1970, Paris, Georges Pompidou Center).

In 1974 he was expelled from Spain by the regime, and did not recover his passport until after Franco's death in 1976. However, his critical takeoff in Spain was not immediate and would be delayed until the early 80s.

In 1982 he was awarded the National Prize of Plastic Arts of Spain, a reparation for the oblivion he had suffered until then. That same year, the Pompidou Center in Paris dedicated a retrospective to him. This art center has another relevant painting: "Felices los que como Ulises I" (1977).
The Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid exhibits two paintings, highlighting "Carmen Amaya cooking sardines at the Waldorf Astoria". The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, which dedicated an exhibition to him, has "El camarote de los hermanos marxistas", which mixes cinema and communism, two of his recurring themes.