Juan Ripollés

Juan García Ripollés was born on September 4, 1932 in Alzira, Valencia in Spain. 

His early years were hard on him, also because his mother died giving birth. Ripollés held many professions before he moved to Paris in 1954 to become an artist. That he was talented was noticed quite quickly and within four years his works were exhibited at the prestigious Drouand David Gallery, where earlier Picasso and Chagall had held exhibitions. Ripollés returned to Spain in the early 1970s where he found his workshop to be the natural environment to further develop his style. His routine remained unchanged and he can still be found in the small hamlet of Mas de Flors in Castellon.

For over half a century his prints and canvasses have been exhibited at the most renowned galleries and museums of New York, Tokyo, Amsterdam and Beijing. His man-sized sculptures have been commissioned by many cities across Europe and in Beijing.

Castellón, Valencia community, where he currently lives and works.  After a youthful period in Paris, he returned to Spain but occasionally he took study trips to Holland, Mexico and, once again, to France.  His artistic training could not avoid being compared to and influenced by one of the giants of 20th century art, Picasso.  

Despite this, Ripollés found his own dreamy and ironic way to characterize the figures in his works.  His way of working looks at the figures of simple people, country folk; his is a popular art, one that is steeped in the pages of characters from Don Quixote del la Mancha.