Written by Sara Debevec
Born in Valencia in 1941, Spanish master painter Royo is known for capturing the startling light, color and spirit of his hometown Valencia and the Mediterranean coast. His sweeping brush strokes, bold swaths of color, and heavy impasto capture the eye and draw one inward. He doesn’t just paint what he sees, but rather the atmosphere, light and movement in space bringing the essence of the warm Mediterranean sunlight closer to anyone who experiences his work.
It takes decades of training for a painter to capture movement and the changing qualities of light on canvas. This was the endless pursuit of European masters like Diego Velazquez, Francisco Goya, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Joaquin Sorolla whose work Royo (b.José Mateu San Hilario) was greatly inspired and influenced by.
Royo exquisitely portrays graceful young women in flowing garments, set against floral landscapes or the glimmering blue sea. Like his impressionist counterparts, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, he breathes light and life into his subjects, so that we can almost feel their presence and smell the sea breeze dancing through their hair.
Royo is interested in the mythical, maternal, and sensual aspects of femininity as well as the weightless human form. “Books are a very important part of my life, I have read a lot, from The Iliad to contemporary literature, and I have a good library of both classical literature and, of course art books,” he says.
The Spanish figurative painter grew up with three sisters and was always surrounded by women “My inspiration is nature and the feminine feeling that combines very well with the different lights of the garden, the interiors and the beaches. The union of these elements inspires me enormously and I am afraid that I will not be able to cover as many ideas as I would like to in my lifetime,” says Royo. Women continue to inspire him and he claims that if he was to live a thousand years, he would be restarting this subject over and over again without exhaustion.
Royo, was lucky to spend his whole life in the beautiful and ancient city of Valencia. Located on Spain’s southeastern coast where the Turia River meets the Mediterranean Sea, Valencia continues to inspire him with its rich visual stimuli and unique architecture. “The countryside that surrounds the city is like a large garden full of fruit trees, orange trees, palm trees and pine trees. I live among this nature, but above all immersed in its wonderful light, which inspired so many artists, from the classics to the impressionists like Renoir, Sorolla and many others,” says Royo.
His artistic talent was recognized early on by his father who was a highly cultured doctor from a wealthy bourgeois family. He helped him follow his vocation, providing him with teachers and tutors for his artistic and intellectual training. When Royo turned 14, he enrolled at the San Carlos Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Valencia, continuing lessons privately from the age of 18 with Aldolfo Ferrer Amblat, Chairman of the Academy. During this time, he immersed himself in major European museums seeing at first hand, works of great Baroque painters such as Velazquez and Goya who set foundations to his art.
Vision V
Paz
In his twenties, Royo began to exhibit his work in Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona. As his notoriety grew, he started receiving commissions for portraits of King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and a number of prominent political figures. Throughout his style maturation, he felt a growing desire to paint his homeland- Valencia and the Mediterranean coast. “When I left the city and came to the country, it was like entering a world of light and amazing colors. My way of painting changed to reflect so much beauty. My brushwork evolved towards Impressionism and Expressionism. And that's how I've been doing it for almost fifty years,” adds Royo. This change of style in his work meant he was focusing on perfecting his depiction of shadow and light. He travelled abroad and exhibited his work in London, Brussels, Copenhagen and Paris. He also participated in the International Geneva Art Fair and was awarded the prestigious Rotary Personality of The Year Award in 2009.
Painting is hard work, Royo admits, and a practice that has taken him a lifetime to master. He sees painting simultaneously as a child’s game and an orchestra full of vibrating colors waiting to be played. “It stimulates me a lot to try to paint better every day. I seek excellence, although I know that this is not possible, but I strive in that direction: to paint better,” he adds.
Rocas de Ibiza
Jasmine En El Jardin
Bandera
Much like his predecessor Sorolla, Royo has been described as ‘Painter of the Light.’ The contemporary artist has exhibited in many countries, from Europe to South America and Japan but his main market has always been the United States. “I have always found people related to my painting who have followed me through the years,” he adds.
He continues to paint every day in his estate in a village near Valencia. His paintings and silkscreens have attained worldwide popularity and numerous books on his works have been published in both Spanish and English. “When I'm not working (I'm always working…no kidding!) I'm painting, drawing, modeling, or thinking. I also like the cinema, music and reading or simply walking with my dogs,” says Royo.
He recently finished a series based on the four seasons. “The inspiration came to me through music and Vivaldi's “The Four Seasons,” with its musical depiction of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. I too realized I had to reflect the wonder of those four seasons through my painting,” he explains. The series comprises of 40-50 paintings of different sizes and formats. “Above all the paintings are large, because I want the viewer to be immersed in each of the themes,” says Royo. Winn Slavin Fine Art in Beverly Hills is honored to welcome the Spanish master painter this April 2022 in a spectacular display of light, color and movement.
Royo claims that painting is a privilege one must earn. His pursuit of capturing light and movement on canvas is equally raw, vivid and mysterious. It’s a passion like that of an alchemist who transforms emotion into vibrant colors on canvas. Through Royo’s brilliant narrative interpretations, the act of seeing is masterfully turned into a story that intrigues, mesmerizes, and instantly touches the viewer’s heart. -