José Manuel Broto Biography

Zaragoza, 1949

Established Spanish painter José Manuel Broto is renowned for his association with the neoabstraction movement of the 1970s.

Broto studied at the School of Arts in his native city, Zaragoza. In 1972 he settled in Barcelona. In 1976, as a member of the group Trama, created by Javier Rubio, Xavier Grau and Gonzalo Tena, and supported by Antoni Tàpies, he participated in the group's first exhibition at the Barcelonese gallery Maeght. This group also created an homonym magazine of which only the first two issues were ever printed.

Broto's neoabstract style is influenced by the aesthetic principles of the French group Support(s)-Surface(s). His Before 1970 he produced informalist works with minimal reminiscences, based on elemental geometric structures with flat fields of monochromatic colour. It is during the 1970's when his work evolves to a gestural or lyrical abstraction that combines abstract forms with formal references to geometric objects, or signs taken from other symbolic languages, like mathematics, music or writing, especially from 1985.  His informalism is connected to the revaluation of colour when used to reach expressive and emotive results, and the redefinition  gesture, the fruit of poetic and metaphysical reflection. Contrasts and tensions between different chromatic fields and forms are frequent in his work. He is influenced by abstract expressionism, by Cézanne and also by cubism. From a technical point of view, it can be highlighted the use of acrylic paint and tar in his last artworks, the creation of glaze superimposing thin layers of liquid paint, and the occasional use of dripping technique which are very prevalent in his last artwork.  

His most notable pieces of artwork are his series, such us Los Prodigios (1989), Vestigia Vitae (1990), Tríptico Mozart (1993) and Las Islas (60 paintings, 1994)

Selected Individual Exhibitions

-1969 Galería Galdeano, Zaragoza
-1976 Galería Buades, Madrid
-1980 Galería Central, Madrid
-1981 Galeria Maeght, Barcelona
-1984 Galerie Adrien Maeght, París
-1985 ARCO 85, Galería Miguel Marcos, Madrid
-1986 Laurens A. Daane Gallery, Amsterdam
Germans Van Eck Gallery, New York
-1987 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg
Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid
FIAC 87, Galerie Maeght, París
Germans Van Eck Gallery, New York
-1988 Galería Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid
Galerie Aeblegaarden, Holt
-1989 Bruno Fachetti Gallery, New York
Galería Juana de Aizpuru, Sevilla, Spain
-1991 Galeria Carles Taché, Barcelona
-1992 Galeria Claudia Gian Ferrari, Milán
Museo de Artes Visuales Alejandro Otero, Caracas, Venezuela
-1993 Barbara Farber Gallery, Amsterdam
Galería Ruth Benzacar, Buenos Aires
-1996 Palacio de Velázquez, MNCARS, Madrid
Galerie Renos Xippas, París
-1997 Adriana Schmidt Gallery, Cologne, Germany
-1999 Galería Altxerri, San Sebastián, Spain
-2000 Palais des Congrès, París
-2001 Broto en Silos, Abadía de Santo Domingo de Silos
-2002 Galerie Xippas, Paris
-2003 Broto. Obras 1997-2002, Casa del Cordón. Caja de Burgos, Spain
Broto, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Santiago de Chile
-2004 Broto. Museo José Luis Cuevas, México D. F.
Broto Rever. Centro Municipal de Exposiciones, Montevideo, Uruguay
-2005 Principio. Galería Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid

Selected Group Exhibitions

-1975 XXVI Salon de la Jeune Peinture. Musée d’Art Moderne, París
-1976 España: Vanguardia artística y realidad social.
1939-1976. Venice Biennale
-1978 Impact III. Musée d’Art et d’Industrie, St. Etienne, France
-1979 Europa 79. Kunsthalle, Stuttgart, Germany
-1981 Forma y color. Galería Theo, Madrid
-1982 Mostra d’ Art 82. Exposition Itinerante, Cataluña, Spain
-1984 Spansk Egen-Art. Exposición itinerante, Estocolmo, Oslo, Norway
Art Espagnol Actuel. Exposición Itinerante, Strassburg, Toulouse, Niza, Lausana, Bruselas
Pintura contemporánea española. Exposición Itinerante, Athens, Sarajevo, Warsaw, Prague
Spaanse Kunst 84. Galerie Nouvelles Images, La Haya
-1985 FRAC Adquisitions 1983-1985. Centre d’Art Contemporain, Toulouse
Arte español contemporáneo. Fundación Juan March, Madrid
-1986 Arte Contemporáneo Español. Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon
Collective. Germans Van Eck Gallery, New York
Feria de Basilea. Galeria Maeght, Basil
-1987 Spanish Identities. Bruno Fachetti Gallery, New York
-1988 Época Nueva. Painting and Sculpture from Spain. Office of Fine Arts, Chicago. Traveling Exhibition in U.S.
Antípodas. Spanish Current Art. World Expo 88, Brisbane, Australia
-1989 Zeitgenössische Spanische Malerei. Friedrich-Ebert Fundation, Bonn. Maeght 15 Anys. Galeria Maeght, Barcelona
-1990 Fond National d´Art Contemporain. Adquisitions 1989. Fondation des Arts Plastiques, París
Barcelona Creació. Museum of Art, Yokohama
-1991 Abstract Painters. L.A. Louver Gallery, Los Angeles.
Spanishche Kunst. Aktualitat und tradition. Staatlichen Kunsthalle, Berlín
-1992 Pasajes. Actualidad del arte español. Pabellón de España. Exposición Universal, Sevilla, Spain
-1993 Arte contemporáneo español. Marugame Hirai Museum, Marugame. Japan
-1995 Obra gráfica contemporánea, Años 90. Instituto Cervantes, UK, Ireland, Morocco, Tunisia
-1996 Nuevas abstracciones. Palacio de Velázquez, Madrid. /MACBA, Barcelona
Autour de Cercle et Carré.Maison des Arts Georges Pompidou, Cajarc
-1997 Kunst aus Spanien. Konrad Adenahuer Stiftung, Bonn, Germany
Arte contemporáneo español. Col. MNCARS. Palacio de Bellas Artes, México D.F
-1999 Kunst-Stück. Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe
-2000 Encuentro de arte español en México. Museo José Luis Cuevas, México D.F.
-2001 Feria de Basilea M. Woolworth Editions, Basil, Switzerland
De Picasso a Barceló. Un siglo de arte español. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires
-2002 Suite Europa 2002. Le Socle de la Grande Arche, Paris-La Défense. France
Arte en España 1977-2002. Sala de Exposiciones Manege, Moscú. Russia
El siglo de Picasso. National Gallery, Athens
-2003 Col•lecció d´Art Contemporani de la Fundaciò ”la Caixa”, Caixa Forum, Barcelona
-2005 La seducción de París: artistas aragoneses del siglo XX. Museo Ramón Aznar, Zaragoza, Spain

Selected Museums and Collections

-Museo de Arte Abstracto Español, Cuenca, Spain
-FRAC (Fond Regionaux D'Art Contemporain), Midi-Pyrénées. France
-The Chase Manhattan Bank, New York
-Fundación Juan March, Madrid
-Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
-The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
-FNAC (Fond National d'Art Contemporain), París, France
-The Kampo Collection, Tokyo, Japan
-Fundación A. Tàpies, Barcelona
-The DOVE Collection, Zúrich, Switzerland
-Ateneum Museum, Helsinki, Finland
-Fundación Peter Stuyvesant, Amsterdam, Holland
-Fundación Maeght, France
-Colección Arte Contemporáneo, Fundación ”la Caixa”, Barcelona
-Colección Preussag, Hanover, Germany
-IVAM, Valencia

Awards

Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas, 1995
Premio ARCO de la Asociación de Críticos, Madrid, 1997
Premio Goya de Grabado, 2003