Born in 1925 in Herencia, Agustín Úbeda studied at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts before receiving scholarships to join the prestigious School of Paris. He often traveled between the French capital and Spain, where he was inspired by artists such as Marc Chagall, Eugenio Hermoso, and Joaquín Valverde Lasarte. In Paris, he moved away from the youthful painting style influenced by his teachers Daniel Vázquez Díaz and Benjamín Palencia and absorbed the expressionist styles of Chagall and Picasso.
Úbeda was a fervent admirer of Francisco de Goya. He believed that painting should be both aesthetic and intellectual, and developed a distinctive style and visual language of his own. His still lifes, portraits, and landscapes are composed of geometric blocks that fit together harmoniously.
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Although he lived in France, Úbeda maintained a strong presence in Spain and participated in numerous exhibitions. In 1957, he won the Young French Painting Award and, in 1982, the Grand Prize for Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts.
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Some of his works were featured in the 1992 exhibition 'Ten Teachers', an event dedicated to figurative expressionism held at the Orfila Gallery in Madrid. Today, Úbeda's work is part of Spain's cultural heritage, and his paintings can be found in numerous international museums from Madrid and San Diego to Paris and Geneva.
Landscapes form a significant part of his oeuvre, rendered in a distinct style. The painter imbues some panoramas with a particular, mysterious, and almost unsettling atmosphere. Rolling plains in the foreground, marked with stripes or hatchings, might reveal a small village in the distance, while a threatening sky obscures the light. The composition is almost treated like a pyramid, creating the impression of a dizzying slope separating the viewer from the horizon. When present, the small structures of the villages pile up and accumulate, leading up to the steeple of a church.
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Úbeda taught at the San Fernando School before being appointed as a professor in the Department of Fine Arts in 1980, eventually becoming its president in 1987. The painter passed away in 2007, leaving behind a significant legacy for Spanish heritage.
