(1903 – 2001)

 Esteban Vicente was a first-generation Abstract Expressionist artist whose work represents some of the experimentation with color and space in Post-War American painting. Born in 1903 in Turegano, Spain, Vicente studied with Dalí in Madrid and later moved to Paris and Barcelona where he befriended both Picasso and Miró. Vicente arrived in New York in 1936, a time when social realism and American scene painting dominated the art scene. Vicente, however, looked to the work of American modernists Milton Avery, Arthur Dove and Marsden Hartley for inspiration. Their explorations of abstract form had a profound effect on his work.

In 1991 Vicente received the Gold Medal of Honor in the Fine Arts from King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, and, in 1998, the Gran Cruz de la Orden Civil de Alfonso X el Sabio for his contributions to art. His work is held in museum collections around the world, most notably the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Esteban Vicente, Segovia; Museo Nacional Reina Sofía, Madrid; Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Tate Gallery, London; Art Institute of Chicago; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC.