Martin Rico y Ortega Giclée Fine Art Prints 2 of 2

Martín Rico y Ortega, born in El Escorial on November 12, 1833, is a figure whose work bridges the evolving tastes of the 19th century, and whose fascination with the play of light and atmosphere brought him international acclaim. His art traverses Romanticism, Realism, and the vedute tradition, yet at its core remains deeply personal, informed by his travels and his intimate connection with the landscapes and cities he painted. Rico was more than a mere chronicler of place - he was a painter of moments, of light, of life unfolding across the architecture and waters of the cities he loved.

His training at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, under the guidance of the Romantic landscape painter Jenaro Pérez Villaamil, provided the foundation upon which his later work would build. Yet it was not in Spain that Rico found his true artistic voice, but rather in Paris, where he moved in 1860 after winning a government scholarship. There, under the influence of the Barbizon school, especially Charles-François Daubigny, Rico’s work took on the clarity of Realism, embracing the soft beauty of rural France and Switzerland. His handling of the countryside’s light, texture, and stillness began to show the precise but atmospheric style that would later define his Venetian works.

Political unrest brought him back to Spain in 1870, but the interruption did little to dampen his artistic growth. In Granada, alongside his friend Marià Fortuny, Rico immersed himself in the brilliance of Andalusian light. Their shared explorations of color and watercolor technique revealed a heightened sensitivity to the shifting, ephemeral qualities of the landscape. Granada marked a crucial moment in Rico’s career - here, he learned to see light not only as an element of form but as a subject in its own right.

It was Venice, however, that truly captured Rico’s soul. From 1873 until his death in 1908, the city became his muse. Venice’s canals, palazzi, and infinite play of light were an endless source of inspiration. He spent his summers painting outdoors, from a gondola or the windows of his rooms in the Dorsoduro district, capturing not just the physical grandeur of Venice but the ephemeral magic of its reflections, its shimmering surfaces. Rico’s Venetian scenes are suffused with the clarity and precision of his earlier Realist works, yet they possess an ethereal quality that transcends mere depiction. Here, light and water merge, creating landscapes that feel both grounded and dreamlike.

Throughout his career, Rico moved seamlessly between the traditions of Spanish Romanticism, French Realism, and the vedutisti of the 18th century. His friendship with Federico del Campo and other artists working in Venice only deepened his exploration of the city’s unique beauty, and together they created works that appealed to the tastes of international collectors. Rico’s Venetian scenes, in particular, struck a chord with the increasing number of travelers and art lovers who longed for a piece of Venice to take home.

Martín Rico y Ortega died in Venice on April 13, 1908, at the age of 74. His resting place on the Isola di San Michele is a fitting tribute to a man whose love for Venice permeated his art. Through his luminous works, Rico captured not just the physical beauty of the places he painted, but their essence, the fleeting moments of light and atmosphere that make them eternal.