Àlvar Suñol Munoz-Ramos
(Spanish, b. 1935)
“I believe that a moment arrives when one creates for oneself an ideal for how life should be, and how humanity should be.
And then that ideal becomes a kind of necessity, which one evokes. It’s simply a spiritual necessity, a desire.”
— Àlvar Suñol
Modernist artist Àlvar Suñol Munoz-Ramos, commonly known as Alvar, speaks from his soul about what is important to him with technical expertise. Recurring themes include time, especially in reference to history and art history, as well as the human condition and its complications, family, nature, beauty, art, music, peace, and love. His works feature feminine or androgynous figures expressed with a combination of earthy, solid, and ethereal qualities. Prominent in his pieces, his women are representations of life, family, and generations. The symbolism in Alvar's art entices the viewer into an artistic treasure hunt to find and identify the iconography he uses to communicate his messages and his thoughts about life as well as thoughts which people around the world share, and to which they relate. Alvar inherits much of his artistic tradition from Catalan and Romanseque art, which he infuses with modernist elements. Renaissance artists, especially Piero della Francesca, Vermeer and Balthus, are especially revered by him.
Alvar was born in Montgat, a fishing village off the Mediterranean coast near Barcelona. He began painting at age twelve, and after exhibiting exceptional talent, was accepted at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Jorge at age 17. Before graduating, he exhibited his first solo exhibition at Galleries Layetana in Barcelona in 1957. At age 18, Alvar entered a painting in a competition for the Young Painters Prize sponsored by the City of Barcelona. His painting won the grand prize and is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, Barcelona, Spain.
Due to his early success, Alvar received many invitations for shows in other Spanish cities. While completing his military service, he entered one of his canvases for the Institute Francais annual painting competition in Barcelona. The Institute Francais awarded him the grand prize and a scholarship to study in Paris. Alvar arrived in Paris to paint in 1959. He met Juan Fuentes, a fellow Spaniard and director of the prestigious Parisian Galerie Drouant. Fuentes encouraged Alvar in his painting and brought Alvar's first group of Paris oil paintings to the gallery. Fuentes' gallery sold the paintings in one week and Alvar signed a contract with the gallery. He married Rosella Berenguer in Barcelona in 1960, and together they returned to live in Paris for the next ten years, where he was invited to join the well-known School of Paris group. The Monede Gallery in New York exhibited Alvar's paintings in the United States for the first time in 1962. Alvar produced his first original lithographs for a solo show at Galerie Drouant in 1963. In Paris in the 60s, he exhibited with other prominent Spanish artists including, Dali, Picasso, and Miro. He then moved back to Spain and continued working, in later years switching gears towards sculpture and public art. Alvar works in watercolor, oil, ceramics, engravings, sculpture, lithography, graphite drawings, murals, and monuments. His works have been on display in over 95 museums and galleries throughout Europe, the United States, Japan, and Canada.
American Fine Art, Inc. is proud to feature the original works and limited editions of this internationally acclaimed contemporary Spanish painter. Visit our 12,000 sq. ft. showroom in Scottsdale, Arizona or call today. Our website is offered only as a limited place to browse or refresh your memory and is not a reflection of our current inventory. To learn more about collecting, pricing, value, or any other art information, please contact one of our International Art Consultants. We look forward to giving you the one on one attention you deserve when building your fine art collection. We hope you find our website helpful and look forward to seeing you in Scottsdale soon.