Amando Silvestre Aquilina (1937 - 2010) - Las campesinas

Signed by the artist on the lower part and dated from the year 1979

The work is presented framed

Dimensions of the work: 32 cm high x 32 cm wide

Frame dimensions: 55 cm high x 55 cm wide

The condition of the work is good

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Artist’s Biography:

Amando Silvestre Aquilina was born in Valencia in 1937. In 1951 he enrolled in the Valencia School of Arts and Trades, and two years later he entered the San Carlos School of Fine Arts in Valencia, studies that he combined with the Marino Mercante career, where he worked as a officer between 1956 and 1960.

In 1960, after an accident, he left the sea to go to Japan and reside in Karatsu, where he worked as a graphic arts draftsman and studied Image Retention and Memorization at the Official School of Hokasai. In 1961 he finished his studies in Japan and held his first solo exhibition at the Braulio Hall in Valencia, which was very well received by the critics.

In 1962 he resided in Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, working as a graphic arts draftsman. He exhibited at the International Watercolor Competition of the Noel Hall of Limousin, where he won the Gold Medal. In June of the same year he exhibited at Caixa d’Estalvis d’Eivissa, where he achieved notable success and favorable criticism from Manuel Guasch in the Diario de Ibiza.

A year later he moved to Paris where he worked as a draftsman in several advertising agencies and for several months frequented the studio of painter Fugita. He also exhibited at the Buda Gallery in Sant Antoni, Ibiza, and participated in the Dijon Biennial (France) obtaining the Silver Medal in watercolor.

From 1965 to 1967 he resided in Ibiza, moving in the last year to Valencia where he exhibited at the Segrelles Gallery del Pilar and at the Garbí Gallery. In 1976 he exhibited in Madrid at the Sala Pueblo.

Amando Silvestre cultivated portraiture with discernment, proof of which was that in 1977, commissioned by Adolfo Suarez, he painted the portrait of King S.M. D. Juan Carlos I, who today presides over the plenary hall of the Consell d’Eivissa.

In 1984 he exhibited at the Benlliure Gallery in Valencia and in 1986 at the Pere Valet Hall in Lyon (France). From 1987 to 1989 he resided in Annecy (France); during that period he exhibited in Geneva (Switzerland), and Rotterdam (Holland).

Santillana publishing house commissioned him in 1989 to illustrate four literature books and in 1995 he repeated the success in the exhibitions in Geneva and Annecy. In 1998 he exhibited at the Herraiz Gallery in Madrid and in subsequent years also carried out several solo exhibitions in Valencia.

Amando practiced the technique of Oriental drawing but adapted to Western tastes. His themes were still lifes, genre scenes with Ibizan characters, seascapes, and landscapes. Of the exhibitions he carried out in Valencia I tried not to miss any because his watercolors have a personal language, with solid fundamentals of a craft whose perfect knowledge and proper application make his watercolors stand out.

Amando Silvestre Aquilina died in Valencia on November 16, 2010, at the age of 73.