Artist Spotlight: Claudio Bravo

Chilean-born (1936) Claudio Bravo, a pioneer of the realist revival in the 1970s, had his first success as a society painter in Franco's Spain. He was able to do flattering, detailed portraits at a rapid pace. His paintings of paper-wrapped packages, perfectly rendered in a photorealist style, were very popular as well.

His paintings of young man and athletes, however, stood out as his most heartfelt works.

Bravo was successful enough to buy a 19th-century villa in Tangier, Morocco, where he spent most of his life. In Tangier he painted primarily male models -- workers in the house, their friends, the telephone repairman. "Islamic women will not pose for me," he once explained. "That is one of the reasons why I recently bought apartments in Madrid and New York -- to expand the range of types that I paint."

The artist died at his home in Taroudant, Morocco, June 4, 2011. For more information go to ClaudioBravo.com

Before the Game

Desnudo

Noureddine, 1983

Seated Male Nude

Bacanal

Alfombra Roja

The Guitarist (detail)

The Temptation of St. Anthony

El Guardian y Su Hijo

Mesaoud and His Son