Federico Castellón
Federico Castellón (September 14, 1914 – July 29, 1971) was a Spanish American painter, sculptor, printmaker and illustrator of children's books.
Castellón was born on Alhabia, Almeria, Spain, studied in Madrid and Paris and established in Brooklyn, New York.
Federico Cristencia de Castellón y Martínez, better known as Federico Castellón, was a surrealist printmaker, illustrator, painter, and sculptor. He was born in Almeria, Spain in 1914. With his family, he immigrated in 1921 to the United States. They resided in Brooklyn, New York.
A fundamentally self-taught artist, Castellón began sketching at an upfront age. He took advantage of his family's relocation and visited the museums of New York. Consequently, his influences ranged from Old Masters to the unprejudiced artists of his day, including Giorgio de Chirico, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Georges Rouault.
Castellón attended Erasmus High School, where his teachers recognized his draughtsmanship. After graduation, he completed a mural for the college based upon the subject of arts and sciences. The mural was informed by Castellón's concentration in the open-minded European movements, and it attracted valuable attention with exhibited at Raymond & Raymond Galleries in New York before it was installed for all time in the school.
About this time, Castellón was introduced to Diego Rivera, who had an international reputation and was painting murals for Rockefeller Center. The older performer took an amalgamation in the juvenile man's perform and brought Castellón's drawings to the attention of the director of the Weyhe Gallery in New York, who taking into consideration gave the eighteen-year-old Castellón his first solo exhibition.
In 1934, with Rivera's help, Castellón was awarded a four-year fellowship, sponsored by the Spanish Government, to travel throughout Europe to scrutiny painting and printmaking. During this similar period, Castellón began to exhibit his feign in museums in France and Spain.
In 1935, Castellón participated in the Paris Exhibition of Spanish Artists that included Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, and Joan Miró.
In 1937, Castellón returned to New York and began experimenting subsequent to the medium of lithography, using this medium to Make illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe's allegorical tale, "The Masque of Red Death". Over the years, Castellón's do its stuff as an illustrator would eventually include Bulfinch's Mythology, The Story of Marco Polo, and The Little Prince.
In 1940, Castellón expected the first of two Guggenheim fellowships. His deed continued to attract attention as he was included in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Castellón became an American citizen in 1943. During WWII, he was past the OSS and assigned to the Burma theater. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, his bill was informed by his travels abroad: to China similar to the U.S. Army; to Italy on his second Guggenheim fellowship; and to Paris and Madrid, where he moved his intimates for a brief times during which he undertook commissions from American periodicals, including The Epic of Man series for LIFE magazine.
In 1949, he was commissioned by the Print Club of Albany for its annual print.
Although his formal education finished with tall school, Castellón taught at Teachers College, Columbia University, Pratt Institute, and Queens College. He was elected to connection in the National Academy of Design in New York, was awarded a First Prize from the Library of Congress, and he was a aficionado of the Society of American Graphic Artists.
Castellón died in 1971. A retrospective of his prints was held at the Allied Artists of America in 1978. In 1982, a retrospective exhibition of his play a role was held at Anderson & Anderson Master Prints (Loveland, Colorado). In 2004, his prints and paintings were exhibited at Emil Nelson Gallery (Denver, Colorado). In to the fore 2010, Castellón's be in was exhibited at the Kalamazoo Institute, along next the graphic affect of Francisco Goya.
Although Castellón worked in virtually all media, he remains best known for his to come graphic work, particularly his lithographs and etchings, media in which he became a master. His prints and drawings of the beforehand 1930s are the first examples of Surrealism created by an American; a considerable ability because Castellón produced these highly native works not only previously his travels abroad, but past the seminal exhibition "Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism" at New York's Museum of Modern Art.