The illusion (2007) Painting by Luis Fraile

Albacete (Spain), February 7th, 1947 - Madrid (Spain), January 5th, 2016

Luis Martínez Fraile, also known as Luis Fraile, had very humble beginnings. He was the son of a master builder and political prisoner after the Spanish Civil War, and a factory worker. He spent most of his childhood combining studies with several night jobs. He acquired an early maturity that helped him to forge a very critical and sarcastic view of the Spanish society and habits under Franco's regime.

He was a self-taught person and, at the age of 20, his interest in Arts and Architecture led him to pursue studies with which he achieved a position as Draftsman and Urban Planning Designer at the City Hall of his hometown. At this stage painting was just a hobby and he used to entertain himself by creating landscapes, portraits and still lifes. He moved to Barcelona in the 70's, employed in an engineering consultancy company. 

Gradually his interest in painting grew to discover his true vocation in it. He spent long periods abroad, mainly in Paris and Toronto, in order to study and become a professional artist, away from the political repression. He became fluent in several languages such as English, French, Catalan and Italian.

His self nonconformity and intellectual concerns led him to create a job in an endless transformation, performed in a wide variety of styles and techniques, always in a very original way. For several decades, his artworks were shown in multiple exhibitions locally and internationally. At the end of the 80's he settled permanently in Madrid with his family, where he created most of his paintings, being represented by the now extinct Novart Gallery.

After a long sickness that kept him away from his vital passion for the last years, he passed away in 2016. His great artistic legacy of more than 3000 artworks features an exceptional originality and vitality.

• Nationality: SPAIN
• Date of birth : 1947
• Artistic domains: Works by professional artists,
• Groups: Professional Artist Contemporary Spanish Artists