He was born on April 19 in Mazarron, Province of Murcia. He early began working as an apprentice at the arsenal of Cartagena; soon he went to Barcelona with his family, which had lost father, as he went to America and died there; in Barcelona, he joined the Spanish trade union movement.
1895 - 1972
Miguel Vivancos
description
Before taking up the visual arts at the age of 50, the Spanish self-taught artist, was an active member of the revolutionary movements. Thanks to Pablo Picasso, Pablo Neruda, Francois Mitterrand, David Rothschild, Greta Garbo and Helena Rubinstein acquired the artist’s works; several galleries in Europe organized his personal exhibitions. He participated in significant collective exhibitions in Basel and Rome, Rotterdam and Rabat, Zagreb and Belgrade. His paintings were bought not only by European museums (Paris, and others), but also by museums in the USA and Brazil. The artist is included in the United Art Rating “10,000 Greatest Artists of the World of the XVIII – XXI Centuries”.
Key ideas:
– Independently acquiring some knowledge of drawing and painting, Miguel Garcia Vivancos first earned a living by creating small paintings with views of Paris (he usually used handkerchiefs as canvases). They were bought by the soldiers of the American army after the war. Then the desire to paint came to the elderly revolutionary as a revelation.
– Feeling homesick (Franco Regime forbade Vivancos to enter the territory of Spain), the artist filled his paintings with colors and characteristic details; those were landscapes of his country, its fiestas, views of the village, as well as the Parisian interiors and still lifes. Mostly he painted buildings surrounded by landscapes, which could be either almost realistic, or almost unrealistic.
– In his interview to Madrid press, Miguel Vivancos said, “I felt like I have never left Spain. I am at home here, and people whom I meet are my people.”
– As a person, who fought for justice for a long time, Vivancos did not avoid didactics in his paintings. The art of naïve painters is characterized by edification, as their main task is to improve the world with their art, or to show what it should be. Long signatures-instructions are used in the series of paintings “Great Ideas of a Western Man”. The artist tells how the laws of culture, beauty and morality should be, so that a person and society as a whole could comprehend the harmony of being.
– Like other naïve artists, Vivancos showed his long pent-up passion for drawing with an incredible power. Not knowing methods and technologies of the fine art, the artist with the talent of composite construction and harmonious color solutions painted in his own way. Specialists define this phenomenon as primitive-firstborn, “free” from the canons developed by centuries. Important is not the awkwardness of the image, but the fact that paintings of naïve artists have high reality of things, instead of just their appearance or almost cosmic essence characteristic of the art of professional avant-garde painters.
1895
1920
1930
1940
1947 - 1948
1950
1960
1970 - 1972
1972
The birth of the artist
Was repeatedly arrested
Together with his colleagues from the organizations “Solidarious” (“Solidarity”) he prepared for an armed uprising, was repeatedly arrested, visited France, America, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Chile with the idea of the labor movement and starting liberation revolutions in Europe and the American continent.
The artist was wounded at the Battle of Teruel
Participated in the uprisings of the Second Republic, was a commander of the 25th division, leading battles on the streets of Barcelona. “Eaglets” are regarded in the history as defenders of the republic; the future artist was wounded at the Battle of Teruel.
He spent four years in concentration camps
He spent four years in concentration camps, was released by members of the Resistance movement, which he joined, and fought against Nazis until France was freed in 1944. As a member of international anarchism, Vivankos was denied entry in Spain; he stayed in France, doing different kinds of work in order to survive. Handicraft helped him cope with poverty: Garcia painted landscapes and scenes from the life of Paris on handkerchiefs that were acquired by American soldiers. Starting to work for a Russian emigrant and an owner of a small craft business on the recommendation of his friend, Garcia began to paint more. He managed to acquire the necessary knowledge of the technique of art by himself.
Decided to show his work to Pablo Picasso
Deciding to show his work to Pablo Picasso, the artist received not only approval, but also support in the form of acquaintance with art dealers (including M. Cattoli) and the creative community of Paris. Next year, his first small personal exhibition took place at the Mirador Gallery (Paris).
Very famous people started buying his paintings
After the high praise of the French writer, Andre Breton, the founder of Surrealism, the naïve artist became even more popular. His exhibitions held by Parisian galleries Mirador (1956), Weil (1957) and Norval (1958) were a success. Very famous people started buying his paintings.
“Great ideas of the Western man "
The artist not only held his solo exhibition at the Charpentier Gallery, but also participated in several collective expositions in Paris (1960), Basel (1961), Rome, Rotterdam, Paris, Rabat (all in 1964). The artist created his series “Great ideas of the Western man “(1965).
The large collective exhibition "Von Rousseau bis heute"
A large collective exhibition “Von Rousseau bis heute” triumphantly traveled through cities of Zagreb, Belgrade, Rijeka (Croatia) and others in 1970. His nostalgia for Spain forced the artist to apply for official permission to return to his homeland, and Franco’s regime allowed him to go there. The artist chose the city of Cordoba, where relatives of his friend lived. Vivancos showed his works at the gallery “Ramon Durand” in Madrid; however, neither critics, nor collectors, nor art dealers noticed them.
The artist died on January 23
The artist died on January 23. A few weeks later, an exhibition of his works was organized at the Studio 52 gallery in Cordoba; it was so successful that it encouraged the Arteta gallery in Bilbao to organize an exhibition twice (in 1972 and 1974). Madrid collectors and connoisseurs of naive art arrived in Bilbao and lined up to acquire paintings of the famous former military.