(Spanish, Deceased)

Montanes was born of poor parents in Liria, nearValencia, Spain. His father died in the flu epidemic, which ravaged Europe during World War I. Mrs. Montanes reared her two sons unassisted. Hunger, deprivation and the struggle for daily food were the constant companions of his and other Spanish families. Montanes has never forgotten that period of his life, and in many ways it is reflected in his paintings. The artist has said: "Many times I remember that my mother told my brother and me that she was not hungry so that we could eat her share of the food. There was love, hope and encouragement in our home and hope for better times for the children." In these few sentences, Montanes gives us the key to the themes of much of his imagery and what for him constitute the deepest meanings of his art. The keys are:

Mother – Share- Love – Encouragement

These few key words reveal the emotional spectrum of Montanes’ work. His sentiments are eternal. His paintings clearly show us an artist who is deeply in love with the art of painting. Surely, this is characteristic of a great artist. He has the warmth of his native Spain and the delicacy of his adopted France. This duality indicates a many-faceted individuality and independence.

After serving in the Spanish Civil War and witnessing the horrors and ugliness of war, Montanes decided he would devote his life to painting. He studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Carlos in Valencia. In 1947, he had his first one-man show in Barcelona Recognition, scholarships, acclaim and honors quickly followed. At about this time, the French government awarded the young artist a scholarship to study at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris. During his four years in Paris, he had numerous one-man exhibitions in Nice, Cannes, Lyons, and Basel, Switzerland.

The artist’s work has also been seen in solo shows in Brussels, Mexico City, New York, Chicago, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, St. Louis, and other major art centers throughout the world. His work is in the permanent collection of numerous museums: St. Etienne, France; Crocker Museum, San Francisco; Museo de Arte Moderno, San Paolo, Brazil; The Cleveland Museum of Art, to name just a few. Montanes’ work is equally popular with well-known collectors: Jose Iturbi, Charles Chaplin, Clare Booth Luce, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Harry Belafonte, Harold Arlen, Picasso, Red Skelton, Dean Martin, Averill Harriman, and others.