José Caballero

José Caballero (Huelva, 1915 - † Madrid, 1991) was a Spanish painter of the twentieth century.

After studying at the school of the Augustinian Fathers and the baccalaureate at the Institute of Huelva, where he gives undoubted samples of his ability for drawing, he met the poet Adriano del Valle at the end of the 20s. In 1924 his father died, leaving the family in a difficult economic situation.

In 1930 he moved to Madrid to study Industrial Engineering, which he left two years later to enter the School of Fine Arts of San Fernando and continue with his classes in the studio of Daniel Vázquez Díaz, whom he had met in Huelva, painting the murals of Monasterio de la Rábida. Through his teacher he comes into contact with the most outstanding artists and intellectuals of that time. A short time later, along with other artists such as Federico García Lorca, he collaborates at the Ateneo de Huelva in an exhibition so controversial that it was closed at the time of its inauguration.

In 1933 he frequently visited the Uruguayan constructivist painter Joaquín Torres García, and a year later the sculptor Alberto Sánchez, from whom he received important teachings.

In 1934 Federico García Lorca incorporated him into the University Theater "La Barraca", where he would contribute different drawings for the works of the company, he also designed in the Student Residence the sets of the work "Historia de un soldado", and began his friendship with Pablo Neruda, Rafael Alberti, Miguel Hernández, Maruja Mallo, or Luis Buñuel.

The year 1935 represents for the artist a creative stage closely linked to Spanish surrealism. Thus he made three posters together with Adriano del Valle at the Ateneo de Sevilla and illustrated poems for Federico García Lorca and Pablo Neruda. He also contributes to avant-garde magazines such as Cruz y Raya, Noreste, Línea and Caballo Verde for poetry or to the First Drawing Fair of the Iberian Society of Artists.

With the arrival of the Civil War several of these artists will go into exile or disappear. Not so Caballero, who the war catches him in Huelva and who when called to the ranks will be dedicated to making maps. After the war, he did numerous jobs as a decorator for film and theater. He collaborates with great Spanish stage directors and his work is reflected in the numerous photographs on theater made by the photographer Juan Gyenes in the 40s and 50s.

In 1949 he made a painting for the Spanish Tourist Office and illustrated several books of poetry. His success was remarkable, until in 1950 he was invited to the XXV Edition of the Venice Biennale and made his first major solo show in Madrid, at the Clan gallery. From there he became interested in expressionism and in 1953 he exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid. In 1957 he met Pablo Picasso in Paris. From there his work expands in time with various contributions fruit of trips to different countries such as Turkey that lead him to try geometrism in his works. The exhibitions on his work will be numerous in these years.

In 1972 he organized an anthological exhibition in Huelva, a city in which years before he had done various works for the Provincial Council or a Savings Bank. The following year an exhibition of his was vetoed by the Ministry of the Interior.

He died in Madrid on May 26, 1991, and was buried in the city of Alcalá de Henares.