Famous Spanish Sculptors

Born to an artisan father in Catalan, Joan Miró was allowed to attend art school after falling sick working as a clerk. Known for combining surrealism and abstract art, he experimented with various forms of art, including paintings, sculptures, and ceramics, and created masterpieces such as The Farm.

Pablo Picasso was a renowned artist whose paintings sell by millions of dollars at auctions even today, many years after his death. With masterful strokes, attractive shades and rich textures, Picasso created some of the most visually impressive arts of the 20th century. While exploring new styles and experimenting with different techniques, Picasso co-founded Cubist art style and co-invented collage.

Spanish artist, sculptor, and architect César Manrique had dropped out of his architecture school because he didn’t like its technical regulations. He later studied painting in Madrid. His creations in Lanzarote, such as the Jameos del Agua and his own house, mingle effortlessly with the volcanic formations of the Canary Islands.

Antoni Tàpies was a Spanish painter, sculptor, and art theorist. He is regarded as one of the most famous European artists of his generation. He studied at the German School of Barcelona, following which he embarked on a successful artistic career. He became one of the most renowned Spanish artists in the second half of the 20th century. 

Eduardo Chillida was a Spanish Basque sculptor. He is best known for his monumental abstract works. As a young man, he aspired to play professional football, but injuries put an end to his dreams. After dabbling in architecture for a while, he eventually became an artist and sculptor. His sculptures have been collected by major museums. 

Argentine-born Amalia Ulman, who now lives in the U.S., is regarded as the first great Instagram performance artist. She is best known for her project that involved clicking selfies in fake scenarios and posting them as real-life moments. She mostly deals with themes of gender and sexuality in her art.

Antonio López García was initially expected to join his family farm but was later introduced to art by his painter uncle. One of the greatest Spanish realist painters and sculptors, he is sometimes referred to as a hyper-realist artist. He excels in a variety of media, including pencil and oil.

Born to a sculptor and metalworker, Julio González was taught the basics of sculpting by his father. Through his friend Pablo Picasso, he got acquainted with the Parisian artistic sphere. Initially a painter, he later revolutionized art with his use of iron as a medium for his sculptures.

Known as an artistic nomad, who is constantly on the move, experiencing nature, Miquel Barceló is one of Spain's most acclaimed contemporary artists, whose works effuse a fierce energy, making them animate. Although he is best known for his mixed-media paintings, bronze sculptures and ceramics, he also works with non-traditional materials like volcanic ash, food, seaweed, sediments, homemade pigments etc.

Uruguayan-Spanish artist Joaquín Torres-García didn’t like the conservative style promoted at his Barcelona art academy and deviated more toward Impressionist and post-Impressionist art instead. He later brought Constructivism to South American countries. The Taller Torres García founder is best remembered for his work Monumento Cosmico.

Spanish Baroque painter and the president of the Sevilla Academy, Juan de Nisa Valdés Leal is remembered for his masterpieces such as St. Andrew, Vanitas, and La Vírgen de los Plateros. Though initially characterized by his use of vibrant colors, he later dealt with macabre themes and violence.

Spanish sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés was one of the most influential figures of the Sevillian school of sculpture and was majorly responsible for the transition of Mannerism to the Baroque style of art. He is best remembered for his wood altars and was known as the God of Wood Carving.

Mannerist sculptor and artist Alonso Berruguete is one of the greatest figures of the Spanish Renaissance. He was initially trained by his painter father Pedro Berruguete and grew up to be a master of wood sculptures. He had also briefly been the court painter of Charles V.

Pablo Gargallo initially created 3-D figures out of metal and was one of the first to use iron as a medium for art. The Spanish sculptor is also said to have introduced his friend Pablo Picasso to metal sculpture. His works, such as The Prophet, showcase a prominent streak of Cubism.

After being expelled from school, Juan Muñoz was homeschooled by an art critic and poet. Born in Spain, the sculptor later moved to England to study art and then went to New York on a Fulbright scholarship. He is best known for his human figures made of resin and bronze.

Baroque Era Spanish sculptor Luisa Ignacia Roldán, known for her polychromed wooden statues of various religious figures, was the first woman sculptor to be documented in Spain.  One of the few women artists to maintain independent studio outside convents, she later became the court sculptor to Habsburg monarch, King Charles II. 

Spanish Basque sculptor, painter, and modern art theorist Jorge Oteiza had spent 14 years in South America. He called his work intención experimental and gained fame for masterpieces such as the Empty Boxes series and his sculptures installed at exhibitions such as the São Paulo Biennial and the Venice Biennial.

Spanish-born sculptor and architect Manuel Tolsá is credited with introducing Neoclassical art to Mexico, then known as New Spain. His most iconic works include the construction of the College of Mines and the completion of the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. Apart from Neoclassical symmetry, he also used Baroque elements.

Remembered as the Spanish Michelangelo for his artistic diversity, Alonso Cano excelled as a painter, sculptor, and architect. Apart from being the court painter of Philip IV, he had also been the first royal architect. His paintings have strong streaks of tenebrism, or a focus on darkness.

Pedro de Mena was a Spanish sculptor. He was the son of sculptor Alonso de Mena, who also became his first teacher. He made several sculptures for the convent of St. Anthony Granada, including figures of St Diego, St Pedro Mentara, St Franciscus, St Joseph, St Antony of Padua, and Santa Clara. He also excelled in sculpting nudes. 

Spanish Baroque sculptor Gregorio Fernández was one of the most significant figures of the Castilian school. The creator of some of the finest polychromed wood sculptures of his time, he included a signature illusion of reality in all his works. St. Veronica and Pieta were two of his iconic statues.

Diego Siloe was a Spanish Renaissance architect and sculptor. He is considered a progenitor of the Granadan school of sculpture. Not much is known about him, but it is believed he was the son of the Spanish-Flemish Gothic sculptor Gil de Siloé. The Cathedral of Granada and the tomb of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba are considered his greatest works. 

Pedro Roldán was a 17th-century Baroque sculptor. He began his career as an apprentice to Alonso de Mena. He, later on, married his master’s niece and inherited his studio upon his death. He also worked as a teacher at the Academy of Art founded by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. He had a successful career and established a large studio. 

One of the pioneers of the Spanish Renaissance, sculptor Bartolomé Ordóñez developed his own style inspired by Italian marble sculptors. He used both wood and marble to create altars and panels. One of his most popular pieces was The Adoration of the Magi, the main panel of the Caraccioli Altarpiece.

Regarded as Spain’s most significant sculptors of the 16th century, Damià Forment is remembered for his huge altars and alabaster masterpieces. His works mingled Gothic and Renaissance elements. He is also considered one of the first to introduce Spain to Mannerist art. His works adorn the Huesca Cathedral among others.

Gil de Siloé was a Castilian sculptor of Flemish origin. He was known for working in a late gothic or Isabelline style, which combined elements of the Germanic and Flemish gothic, and Mudéjar. His works displayed great technical expertise. He built the mausoleum of King John II of Castile. His son, Diego de Siloe, was also an architect and sculptor.  

Francisco Salzillo was an 18th-century Spanish sculptor. He worked exclusively on religious themes and almost always used polychromed wood as his medium. Hundreds of the pieces he made are distributed throughout the Region of Murcia. Unfortunately, many of his works were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. His great nativity scene is considered one of his masterpieces. 

Manuel Vilar was a Catalan sculptor known for his works in the Romantic style. As a young man, he studied with Antoni Solà and became an assistant to  Pietro Tenerani in his workshops. He then became an instructor and was eventually appointed the head of the sculpture classes at the Academia de San Carlos. He was a popular teacher. 

Josefina Plá was a Spanish-born Paraguayan dramatist, poet, historian and sculptor, who yielded great influence on the 20th century Paraguayan culture. Gaining fame for her earliest poems like El precio de los sueños, she began operating a radio theater for the soldiers in the field during the Chaco War and later wrote many historical works including El barroco Hispano-guaraní .