Manuel Ussel de Guimbarda

Manuel Ussel de Guimbarda y Malibrán (26 November 1833 – 9 May 1907) was a Spanish painter. Ussel is generally seen as "Wssel"; the way he spelled it when signing his works.

Biography

He was born in

Despite this, Ussel decided to follow in his family's footsteps and became a Lieutenant in 1854. A year later, he painted his first canvas, inspired by the Battle of Lepanto.^[2] He then moved to Cartagena, where he continued his studies and became a deputy in the provincial "Commission on Artistic Monuments". He also married the daughter of a wealthy businessman.^[1]

Following his father's death, he moved to

During the

Ussel returned to Cartagena to take advantage of an economic boom in the area; setting up a workshop and art school for women. In addition to his canvases, he received commissions to create murals and altarpieces, notably at the "Iglesia de Santa María de Gracia", and the "Basílica de la Caridad", where he painted the vault of the chapel and images of the "Cuatro Santos de Cartagena" (Four Saints of Cartagena) on the walls.^[3]

In Lorca, he painted murals and decorations representing industry, commerce and agriculture at the "Palacio Huerto Ruano" (originally a wealthy businessman's villa; now a museum). Lorca is also the site of his "Crucifixion", in the central part of the apse in the "Colegiata de San Patricio".^[3] He died in Cartagena, aged 73.

References

Further reading

• Ramón García Alcaraz, El pintor Ussel de Guimbarda, Murcia, Academia Alfonso X el Sabio, 1986
  ISBN 84-00-06186-1
• José Rodríguez Cánovas, Ussel de Guimbarda, el hombre y el pintor (Volume 33 of Colección Almarjal Cartagena), Ediciones Athenas, 1972.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Manuel Ussel de Guimbarda.

• A series of articles about Ussel by Fernando Conde Torrens; including biographical notes, critical commentary, more artworks and some photographs. Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six.