JUAN MARTÍNEZ ABADES (Gijón, 1862 - Madrid, 1920)."Landscape".Oil on canvas.It has slight

JUAN MARTÍNEZ ABADES (Gijón, 1862 - Madrid, 1920).
"Landscape".
Oil on canvas.
It has slight restorations.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 50 x 61 cm.
Due to the use of a loose and large brushstroke it is probable that this work belongs to the last stage of the painter, where his style is defined by a greater openness in the stroke, as can be seen in other paintings, an example of this is the work entitled El Rinconín, which belongs to the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias. Martínez Abades as the Cantabrian seafarer par excellence. In his oeuvre as a whole, marine paintings, both oil paintings and illustrations, are very abundant and of irreproachable technique. Undoubtedly, this was the genre in which he developed best, and he also had a consolidated market.
A painter and illustrator, Martínez Abades began his artistic studies at the Jovellanos Institute in Gijón, where he began to develop his extraordinary talent for drawing by copying works from the school's collection. In 1880 he moved to Madrid and enrolled at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts, where he alternated his studies with private classes with José Gragera and Ignacio Suárez-Llanos. In 1884, under the influence of Rosales, he sent his painting "The Death of Messalina" (Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias, Oviedo) to the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. During the summers he painted in Gijón, specialising in marine themes. In 1888 he was granted a merit pension by the Diputación de Oviedo to further his studies in Rome, where he remained until 1890. On his return he settled in Madrid again, although he continued to travel to the coast during the summers to make sketches from life. The same year he returned from Italy he submitted his painting "El Viático a bordo" ("The Viaticum on Board") to the National Exhibition, which won him a second-class medal and launched him to fame in the Spanish pictorial world. He also took part in the exhibitions of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, and collaborated as an illustrator with the magazine "Blanco y Negro". He continued to take part assiduously in national and regional exhibitions and exhibitions of specialised themes, and was once again awarded the second medal at the National Exhibition of 1892 and, finally, the first medal and the Encomienda de Isabel la Católica in the 1901 edition. He also took part in foreign exhibitions, such as the one organised in Berlin in 1891 and the one in Chicago in 1893. Undoubtedly, what Martínez Abades was known for at the time was his seascapes, and he came to be considered the sailor par excellence of the Bay of Biscay. His marine paintings, both oil paintings and illustrations, are very abundant in his oeuvre as a whole and his technique was irreproachable. This was undoubtedly the genre in which he did best, and he also had a consolidated market in which he dominated without question. In his later years he focused his production on illustration, leaving painting in the background. However, his art would be recognised by critics and the public in a major anthological exhibition of his work at the Salón Iturrioz in Madrid in 1913. Juan Martínez Abades is represented in the Prado Museum, the Provincial Museum in Lugo, the Jovellanos Museum in Gijón, the Jaume Morera Museum in Lérida and the San Telmo Municipal Museum in San Sebastián, as well as in the MAXAM collection and other Spanish and foreign collections.