Martín Rico Y Ortega

1833 – 1908

Spanish painter. He was a friend of the French landscape painter Charles-Francois Daubigny and was one of the first Spanish artists to paint his subjects in situ. He worked with his brother Bernardo Rico y Ortega (1825-1894), a copperplate engraver. He studied at the San Fernando Academy of Art in Madrid. He was successful at the exhibitions in Madrid. In 1872, accompanied by Mariano Fortuny, he toured Italy, where he became impressed by the splendour of Venice, and he captured the architecture and light in innumerable paintings. From 1879, by which time he had made Paris his permanent home, he spent his summers in Venice, renting a palazzo in which to paint. He would often work sitting in a gondola, sketching buildings and bridges as seen from the water. He received medals at the World Fair in Paris in 1878 and 1888.

View all works →