Jose Vives-Atsara was born April 13,
1919 in Vilafranca del Penedes near Barcelona, Spain. A native
Spaniard, he developed a love of painting at an early age, and by age 11
had committed himself to becoming an artist. He studied at Colegio de
San Ramon and had his first one-person show at age 14.
The
Spanish Civil interrupted his idyllic young life as he was forced to
serve in the Communist Army, and then was imprisoned, suffering many
hardships.
Soon after the war he married Emilia Hill Domenech,
and in 1947 set out to move with his wife and child aboard a tramp
steamer to the United States. Unfortunately, immigration quotas did not
allow them to move directly to the United States, and it was eight years
before they achieved that goal. During this interim before obtaining
temporary visas, he and his family lived first, in Caracas, Venezuela
and then in Mexico City, Mexico.
The family settled in San
Antonio, Texas, where he had made friends on a previous visit. He and
his wife and children gained citizenship in time for their first
Christmas in the United States. He became such an exemplary immigrant
citizen that officials of the U.S. District Court for the Western
District Court regularly invited him to share his thoughts and advice
for living in America with newly naturalized citizens
Vives-Atsara
also developed a close relationship with the Incarnate Word College,
becoming, over the years, both a professor of art, and Artist in
Residence. As a painter, he depicted many local scenes including San
Antonio missions and the San Antonio River. For special guests such as
Pope John Paul II, heads of state, and royalty from foreign countries,
he was commissioned to provide paintings as gifts .
His paintings
were also commissioned for Frost Bank and the San Antonio Chamber of
Commerce. For his vibrant oil paintings, he used only nine colors,
mixed in a variety of ways. They have been described as both realistic
and impressionistic.
"Vives-Atsara believed that art is a
reflection of the artist’s soul, if this is true; his paintings reflect a
beautiful, bright spirit." (Richardson) Jose Vives-Atsara died in San
Antonio on January 13, 2004, and is buried there in Sunset Memorial Park
Mausoleum.
Sources:
Obituary of the Artist, from Peter McCrae
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