Alberto Gironella

Alberto Gironella was a self-taught Mexican painter born in Mexico City. Heavily influenced by the politics and artist in Mexico, he showcased his works in Brazil, United States, Spain, France, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland. In Mexico his works were in the Palace of Fine Arts and Museum of Modern Art, and the Carrillo Gil and Rufino Tamayo museums. Gironella also illustrated the book Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes. In 1960 he won the first prize of the Paris Biennial for Young Painters and the first prize of the Sixth Biennial of São Paulo, Brazil. Several of his later paintings were nudes, including several with either topless or fully naked women on beds either holding a classical guitar or one shown in the background such as Sanda as Carmen (1985).

Gironella, also depicted American singer Madonna in his last years which he considered than more than pop, she is a surrealist. According to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, his Madonna series artworks started in 1991. Gironella has left behind a legacy with his artworks and his only known son, Emiliano Garcia, has continued to share his father's works. specifically his father's "Las Meninas" series.

Alberto Gironella was the son of a Catalan immigrant father and an indigenous mother. He was married to Carmen Parra who was also a Mexican painter to which they had a son, Emiliano Gironella. Not much is known of the particulars of their marriage but Parra continues to work as an artist and their son has followed in his father's footsteps by not only continuing to share his father's artwork and legacy but also by becoming an artist himself. Gironella was often known for taking a liberal approach to both his artwork and his personal life, often being described as stern and reclusive. He spent much of his time at his home in Vallo Bravo near Mexico City, Mexico, and donated his artworks to causes he believed in.

Looking to express his artistic talents beyond writing, Gironella began his painting career where he was immediately successful and won an award at the Paris Biennial for Young Painters in 1960. Although popular artwork of the time consisted of heavy political agendas like those found in the Mexican Muralism Movement, Gironella did not participate in such agendas. On the contrary, Gironella rejected all art forms that intertwined with politics and became heavily influenced by surrealism and baroque portraiture. Shortly after discovering his painting style, Gironella was instrumental in the founding of the avant-garde art gallery, Galería Prisse, along with fellow Mexican artist Vlady Kibalchich Rusakov and Héctor Xavier. Galería Prisse was a major factor in disturbing the political artworks of the time but this did not prevent Gironella from receiving criticism nor the questioning of his style. Gironella's artwork continues to be shared by his son, Emiliano Gironella, and was showcased in the plastic "Forgetting Velázquez. The Meninas" exhibition in Barcelona alongside his favorite artists Picasso, Velázquez, and Goya in 2008.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023