Spanish, born in 1953
Born in Spain in 1953, Antonio Matallana is a painter renowned for his exceptional mastery of egg tempera on wood, a technique inherited from the old masters that he continues to practice with remarkable rigor.
Trained at the Fine Arts School in Seville from 1970 to 1975, where he obtained the title of Professor of Fine Arts, he continued his studies at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Rouen between 1976 and 1977, before joining the prestigious École du Louvre in Paris in 1978. This dual Spanish and French culture nourishes a body of work deeply rooted in art history while asserting a contemporary sensibility.
His compositions, mainly photorealistic still lifes, feature everyday objects chosen for their timelessness: old books, clocks, globes, playing cards, glassware, lace, and shoes. Through meticulous work with light and color, each element seems to emerge from silence with an almost sculptural presence. The subtly blended shadows and precise textures invite the viewer to linger, to remember, to project their own memories onto the image.
Antonio Matallana's great technical mastery was praised by the master Jacques Poirier, whose last work he completed (a rare honor that testifies to his high standards and commitment to the pictorial tradition).
Now based and working in Paris, Antonio Matallana is considered an essential international figure in contemporary figurative painting, admired for the exceptional quality of his execution and the silent depth of his compositions.
