Agustín Alegre Monferrer (1936) - Contraluz

The work is signed on the back by the artist and dated 1975.

It is also titled 'Contraluz, Alcocebre, Castellón'.

The condition of the work is good

The work is presented framed.

Work measurements: 65 cm in height x 50 cm in width.

Frame measurements: 100 cm in height x 84 cm in width.

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Artist biography

Painter born in the town of Santa Eulalia del Campo in Teruel in 1936. He studied in Teruel and at the San Carlos Academy of Valencia, supported by a scholarship from the Provincial Council of Teruel. A master of contemporary Spanish figurative painting, Agustín had a younger brother, Fermín, who also dedicated himself to painting: 'He was realistic like me, more pleasant, he preferred light, he was more Levantine.'

He has his painting studio in Villa Miriam – named after his autistic daughter – located on Leocadio Brun Street in Teruel. He was a teacher at the Las Anejas school in Teruel. It is known that he was a friend and fellow art student at the San Carlos Academy in Valencia of Paco Pérez Monleón, sculptor José Gonzalvo, and also sculptor and friend Isaac Rodríguez from Jabaloyas, 'an artist with incredible abilities,' according to Alegre.

His painting is based on maintaining figuration and exercising perfect technique in firm drawing and a sense of color. A very characteristic feature of his style is the romantic atmosphere of his characters and the treatment of light contrasts against dark masses that recall Spanish tenebrism from the Baroque period.

He exhibited in Madrid, Milan, Zaragoza, and Valencia, among many other cities. He received, among others, the Moncada Prize in 1995; the Gold Medal of Benimar in 1957; several Ciudad de Albarracín awards; the First Prize for Outdoor Painting in Logroño in 1969; the Africa Medal at the African Painters Exhibition in 1974; the third medal at the National Fine Arts Exhibition in 1976; and the Galerías Preciados Award in 1977, among others. He received the Gold Medal of the City of Teruel (one of the awards he is most proud of). A street in Teruel bears his name.

If we had to highlight a painting, we would choose the Burial of Santa Eulalia, which was donated by the artist in 1963 to the hermitage of the Virgen del Molino. This painting is located above the Choir of noble woods crafted artisanally, which is at the other end of the main altar, preserved with great care, as is everything that this emblematic place represents, thanks to the effort, dedication, and tireless devotion that the Hermandad de la Virgen, responsible for its maintenance and all volunteer members, carries out with the most tenacious spirit.