Until May 23, IVAM is showing a retrospective exhibition of Ignacio Pinazo with a selection of water-colours by the Valencian painter. His first incursion into the art of the water-colour began by using it in mono-chrome studies,  influenced by the Baroque patrons of Alonso Cano, Murillo and Pablo Pontons, among others. From 1874 onwards, he attended the water-colours classes at the Ateneo Científico y Literario, where he continued to perfect his technique, while at the same time being influence by Mariano Fortuny.
As was the tradition at the time, Ignazio Pinazo was inclined to paint the human figure in his water-colours, and the use of that subject mater and type of work, as well as its richness of techniques and mode of expression, shows that his production cannot be limited to a single vision. While Pinazo was a realist and academic painter who executed historical paintings in the purest academic style and received medals and honours, he increasingly tended to experiment in the form of unfinished and almost abstract sketches in line with the new perception of reality and art that emerged at the end of the 19th century, as seen, for example, with the Impressionist painters. The water-colour also is a technique that Pinazo used for his innovative visual investigations, making the painter a revolutionary figure in 19th century Spanish art.
 

IVAM
Guillem de Castro, 108
Tel 963 863 000
www.ivam.es