Lot n° 80
Estimation :
100 - 120
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 258EUR
Alejo VIDAL-QUADRAS (1919-1994) - Lot 80
Alejo VIDAL-QUADRAS (1919-1994)
Portrait of the Comtesse de Paris
Black pencil drawing.
20 x 16 cm
(Folds).
Alejo VIDAL-QUADRAS (1919-1994)
Alejo Vidal-Quadras Veiga was born on April 12, 1919 into the upper middle class of Barcelona, Spain. Alejo and his older brother Francisco Javier Vidal-Quadras Veiga received a highly disciplined upbringing.
In 1924, their parents, Javier Vidal-Quadras y Villavecchia and Pilar Veiga de la Cuesta, moved with them to France. Alejo returned to Spain at the age of eleven.
At school, Alejo is recognized for his artistic talents. During class, he drew caricatures of his teachers. On his mother's advice, he joins the painting classes of José Maria Vidal-Quadras , his uncle and portraitist of leading Catalan families.
Alejo immediately stood out, and his spectacular progress made him a true artist.
Felipe Bertran Güell, a relative of the Vidal-Quadras family, commissions the young man to paint a series of pen-and-ink portraits to illustrate a book on contemporary history.
Fernando Rivière, a prosperous industrialist and Alejo's uncle, commissioned charcoal and oil portraits of his family.
Alejo was then asked to paint portraits of the Güell family's children, nephews, close relatives and friends. This gave the 22-year-old artist the opportunity to organize his first gallery exhibition in Barcelona.
With the outbreak of the Second World War and a fragile economy, the legacy of the Spanish Civil War ... Alejo leaves Europe with his mother and brother for Argentina. They arrive in Buenos Aires, a haven of peace and plenty.
They later travel to Santiago de Chile, where they decide to extend their stay by two years. Alejo painted portraits, became famous and in November 1943 exhibited at the Salon National at the Alhambra Palace.
In 1944, back in Argentina, the young painter made a name for himself and received numerous commissions. He rubbed shoulders with many artists and met his future wife, Tilda Thamar , an Argentine film star... More commissions followed, and Alejo began to describe himself as a portraitist.
In 1947, Alejo chose to live in Paris to hone his talent. He traveled Europe by car, visiting its museums and monuments, drawing inspiration from the great masters he admired. A year later, Tilda Thamar joined him in Paris.
In 1949, he held his first exhibition in Paris; well received by the critics, he presented a variety of works-portraits, still lifes, landscapes and cities. It was a productive period, spurred on by his wife's inspiration and his intense social life in post-war Paris.
In 1956, Alejo's reputation blossomed when the Countess of Paris commissioned twelve portraits-one of herself and one of each of her eleven children. Marie-Charlotte Pedrazzini, a journalist with Paris-Match Magazine, wrote an article on this commission, boosting Alejo's international career.
In his Montmartre studio, Alejo welcomes many members of the royal family, including King Umberto of Italy and his daughters; Wallis, Duchess of Windsor; Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco ; as well as entertainment notables such as Anouk Aimée, Audrey Hepburn, Sir Arthur Rubinstein, Maria Callas, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner and other celebrities, including industrialist Gianni Agnelli, socialite Gloria Guinness, steel baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and the family of shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.
Commissions come from all over-the Imperial Court of Iran and the royal families of Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria, Jordan and Yugoslavia, as well as the Grand Ducal family of Luxembourg and the princely family of Monaco. In Brazil, Alejo painted four generations of the same family. In Argentina, he painted several portraits of Amalia Lacroze and Alfredo Fortabat and their families...
Alejo Vidal-Quadras adopts a new, cleaner, more intimate style. He captures the soul and personality of his models.
From 1960 onwards, prestigious art galleries such as Wally Findlay Galleries (New York, Paris and Palm Beach) and Frank Partridge in London exhibited his work every year.
On September 13, 1993, Alejo was hospitalized and underwent heart surgery. He died on January 23, 1994, at the age of 75.
His life was devoted to painting.
Sources: https://w ww.alej ovidalquadras.com/biografia-carreira-internacional/
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