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Arroyo, Eduardo
(b Madrid, 26 Feb 1937). Spanish painter, sculptor, potter, printmaker and stage designer. As a painter he was mainly self-taught. After working as a journalist in 1957, he left Spain in 1958 to avoid military service, settling in Paris. There he continued to work both as a journalist and painter. From 1968 to 1972 he lived in Milan, returning to Paris in 1973. His work developed from expressionism to realism (Nueva figurina), which reflected on the pictorial language and function of painting and the artist’s role in society. He manipulated ready-made images, words and elements derived from commercial art and the work of other painters. His pieces formed series whose titles referred to the legacy of the Spanish Civil War and the contemporary political situation to help make their critical point. His work frequently provoked controversy, for example his series Arcole Bridge and St Bernard’s Pass (1962–6) was based on the theme of Napoleon Bonaparte as a symbol of imperialism (e.g. Arcole, 1964; priv. col., see Astier, p. 12). He presented dictators, bullfighters, soldiers and Spanish gentlemen (e.g. Spanish Gentleman, 1970; Paris, Pompidou; see SPAIN, fig. 19) as a metaphorical list of his dislikes. Through his work he attacked such political figures as Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler as well as Miró and perpetrators of uncommitted painting (e.g. Blind Painters, 1975; priv. col., see Astier, p. 77). From 1976 he painted portraits of such artist friends as Gilles Aillaud (b 1928), Aldo Mondino (b 1938) and Antonio Recalcati (b 1938). In 1980 Arroyo produced a series of mask-like bronze heads of chimneysweeps (e.g. Chimneysweep I, 1980; priv. col., see 1987 exh. cat., p. 148).
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