Andrés Vázquez de Sola

Andrés Vázquez de Sola Domingo was born in San Roque, Cádiz, just before the Civil War, to a conservative family.  He began his journalistic career in the newspaper called Patria. In those days, all the Spanish newspapers adopted the same political line, either known as the Movimiento or the Editorial Católica. That situation left no room for freedom of expression regarding the concerns that Vazquez de Sola had in his mind.

After going through some difficulties with the authorities, the artist left the Madrid newspaper, where he was a permanent collaborator. He also left Televisión Española where he presented La Noche del Sábado show drawing caricatures of the participants in fornt of the camera and he left for Paris on foot. It was the year 1959.

In the French capital he slept under the river Seine’s bridges. It was a difficult time, until the publication of the La Gran Corrida Franquista in Le Canard Enchainé, the most important satirical newspaper in France. The reception was unexpected and given the great demand raised, the newspaper made a special print of one million copies. From that moment, his professional life stabilized and he became a French journalist during 30 years, forming part of the newspaper’s management.

He has worked in Le Canard, Le Monde, Le Monde Diplomatique, L’Humanité, etc., published books, performed numerous personal and collective exhibitions and collaborated in radio and television shows.

The 70s inspired new dreams for the artist. He made great oil paintings where, without the flanges of the black and white tones, characteristic of the press, and without the dimension of 15 or 12 square centimeters to express his idea, he adopted a different approach in his professional life. In 1972, in Bordighera (Italy), he received the coveted Golden Palm and the Nasreddin Hoca, in Turkey in the 1974.

In 1985, he retired from the journalist work, settling in Spain. From that moment, he dedicated himself to painting and making monographic exhibitions. Among his last works were Lorca y sus Amigos, Mujeres de mis sueños, La generación del 27, República o “Esto”, Homenaje a Francisco Ayala, Besitos desde Sodoma y A la Pintura.

His numerous published books include La Triste vie d’un homme triste (1968), Vida y muertes del general Franquísimo (1974), Bekannte (1982), Virgo Fidelis, Virgo Clemens, Virgo Potens y otros Virgos (1990), El Polvo del Camino y Viceversa (2015).