Spanish artist Manuel Ruiz Ortega paints with an infectious liveliness. His wide-ranging oeuvre of works, which includes landscapes, still lifes, and nudes, are all executed with a vibrancy of colour and animated craftsmanship which lends to them great feeling. A professor at the University of Barcelona, Ortega has contributed an immense amount of research and discussion to the study of art and art history.

Born in Cádiz, Ortega began his artistic studies at the Higher School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. Here, he was awarded the Güell prize in 1974 for the best academic record in his year. He was also the recipient of a number of scholarships. His talent and passion were undoubtedly evident.

Ortega went on to work as an assistant professor at the Higher School upon completing his studies. When the School was enveloped into the University of Barcelona in 1979, he continued his work, earning his doctorate in 1986. In 1991 he became a professor.

Ortega has contributed much research and developed numerous projects with a focus on art and art history. He has published numerous works such as ‘The free design school of Barcelona, ​​1775-1808,’ and organised an exhibition and a number of conferences on the artist Ramón Gaya (1910-2005).

Ortega has also been incredibly successful in the exhibition of his own works. He has appeared in over a hundred exhibitions within Barcelona and further afield. He has also received and been shortlisted for numerous awards and accolades.

His works have an immediacy, a sense that Ortega is responding to his subject matter quickly in order to capture an elusive sense of feeling in that moment in time. His brushstrokes are distinctive and seem to embody a sense of personality in the laying down of paint upon the canvas. His colours, too, bubble and broil with liveliness. Nothing seems sedentary in his works. From the transcendent nature of cloud-peppered skies to the glossy sheen of ceramic crockery, Ortega’s works are momentary yet timeless, transcendent yet eternal.

1951

Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Spain.

1966

Moved to Barcelona, Spain. Studied at the Higher School of Fine Arts.

1971

Awarded the ‘International Painting Course’ scholarship. Awarded the ‘International Course of Mural Painting’ scholarship.

1974

Awarded the Güell prize for best academic record at the Higher School of Fine Arts.

1974-1978

Worked as assistant professor at the Higher School of Fine Arts.

1986

Graduated with a doctorate from the University of Barcelona.

1991

Appointed a professor at the University of Barcelona.

1999

Work ‘The free design school of Barcelona, ​​1775-1808’ published.

2001

Appointed Corresponding Academician of the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi.