Grapes

Jose Moncada Calvache, was a Spanish painter born in Almeria (Andalusia) on December 29th in 1893 and died in Alhama de Almeria (province of Almeria, Andalusia – Spain) on July 5th in 1988.

Life and work

Second of five brothers, he was the son of Federico Moncada Pradal and of Mª Trinidad Calvache Portillo, a native of Alhama de Almeria, and baptized in the Almeria parish of San Sebastián shortly after birth.

He worked very young in the carpentry workshop of his father, where he met the drawing of the painter Dionisio Godoy, a family friend.

In 1908, at the age of fifteen, he enrolled in the School of Artistic Arts and Crafts of Almeria and in 1912 he entered the Academy of Fine Arts of the capital. Between 1914 and 1915, he taught at the same time scenography classes as an assistant in the same institution.

In 1918 he exposed for the first time in a collective exhibition in Almeria, where he won a second prize. Already in his inclination for the still life and the portrait was glimpsed. His first solo exhibition took place at the Ateneo de Madrid in 1921.

From 1926, Moncada Calvache achieved its greatest successes. That year he participated successfully in the Autumn Salon of Madrid and the following year, 1927, exposed individually for the first time in his hometown, at the Cultural Casino. In 1929 he participated in a national exhibition held at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, again in the capital of Spain. In addition, his works are exposed at the Iberoamericana de Sevilla and Internacional de Barcelona exhibitions, both held in 1929. The successes of this second half of the 1920s will deserve very positive reviews in the press.

During the 30s he continued his success, exposing in a continuous way: in 1933 again in the Círculo de Bellas Artes of Madrid; in 1934, at the School of Fine Arts of Almeria (where he won the Gold Medal at the Regional Exhibition of Arts and Industries, or in 1935, at the Commercial and Industrial Circle of Almeria.

In 1939 he settled in Barcelona and in 1942 he was awarded the National Painting Prize.

He returned to the south years later, in 1961, suffering from a serious illness, and settled in Alhama de Almeria, where he won popular affection and developed the last stage of his work.

Alhama people  dedicated official tributes, named a street in his honor and held anthological exhibitions of his work before his death, in 1988. His name was given to the old street of the Volante in Almeria, tha capital.