Luis Feito facts for kids

Luis Feito López (born October 13, 1929 – died February 7, 2021) was a famous Spanish painter. His art was shaped by two important styles: Cubism and informalism. Feito lived and worked in Madrid, Spain, for most of his life. He passed away in February 2021 due to COVID-19. After his death, his local government declared two days of mourning to honor him.

Luis Feito's Early Life and Art Journey

Luis Feito started his art education in 1950 at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. This school is now known as the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.

Discovering New Art Styles

At first, Feito painted in a figurative style. This means his art showed things that looked like real objects or people. But soon, he discovered Cubism, an art style that breaks objects into geometric shapes. By 1954, he had his first art show at the Galería Buchholz in Madrid. This show featured his nonfigurative works, meaning his art no longer looked like real-world objects. From then on, Feito focused on abstract painting, which uses shapes, colors, and lines to create art that doesn't represent anything specific.

Moving to Paris and New Ideas

In 1953, Feito received a special grant from the French government to travel to Paris. After a successful exhibition there in 1955, he decided to leave his teaching job in Madrid and move to Paris. He lived in Paris for almost 25 years.

While in Paris, Feito saw many artworks by other international artists. He was especially interested in the works of Jean Fautrier, Hans Hartung, Serge Poliakoff, and Mark Rothko. He also met several artists who were part of the Art Informel movement. This style focused on the materials and textures of the paint itself. Feito also learned about automatism, a technique where artists create without thinking too much, letting their subconscious guide them. He even started adding new materials like sand to his paintings.

Founding the El Paso Group

Even though he lived in Paris, Feito stayed in touch with the Spanish avant-garde. This term refers to artists who create new and experimental art. He was a founding member of an important art group in Madrid called El Paso (1957–1960).

El Paso's Goals

El Paso wanted to create art that was fresh and new for Spain. They believed art should be innovative and responsible, moving away from old, traditional styles. Other famous members included Manolo Millares, Manuel Rivera, and Antonio Saura. The group's main goal was to bring a new spirit to Spanish art, especially after the difficult period of the Spanish Civil War.

Later Years and Artistic Changes

In 1981, Feito moved to Montreal, Canada, and then to New York City in 1983. He continued to paint and work in New York until the early 1990s.

Evolution of Feito's Style

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Feito's paintings often used a calm, limited range of colors. He mostly used blacks, grays, whites, and earthy yellows. Later, he started adding red to his art, first as a contrasting color, and then as the main color in many of his works.

His art from this time also showed his interest in different materials. He created paintings with both smooth and rough, textured surfaces. He achieved these textures by using sand and thick layers of paint, a technique called impasto. By 1963, his art became simpler in its shapes and materials. Circular forms became very common, showing his interest in Japanese art. Throughout his career, Feito always explored how surface textures, light, color, and shapes worked together in his paintings. Many art experts felt his focus on light gave his work a sense of mysticism, suggesting a deep, spiritual quality.

Exhibitions and Special Recognition

Luis Feito's art was shown in many important international exhibitions early in his career.

Major Group Shows

• Venice Biennale (1956, 1958, 1960, 1968)
• São Paulo Biennial (1957, 1963)
• Documenta, Kassel, West Germany (1959)
• Paris Biennial (1959)
• Guggenheim Museum in New York (1960)
• Tate Gallery, London (1962)
• Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh (1962)

Solo Exhibitions and Retrospectives

Feito also had special shows called retrospectives. These shows look back at an artist's work over their entire career.

• Galerie Arnaud, Paris (1961)
• Hamburg Museum, West Germany (1964)
• Musée d'art contemporain, Montreal (1968)
• Museo Espaol de Arte Contemporáneo (now Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía), Madrid (1998)

After he was elected to the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in 1998, the Reina Sofía museum organized another traveling retrospective of his work in 2002.

Awards and Honors

Feito received important honors from France:

• He was named Officer of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1985.
• He became a Commander of the same order in 1993.

He also won a major international prize from the Asociación Espaola de Críticos de Arte (AECA) at the Arco art fair in Madrid in 2002.

See also

In Spanish: Luis Feito para niños