Shannon Martin
Mr. Cole
Period: 5
23/9/14
Hispanic Heritage Month: Artist Eduardo Arroyo Eduardo was born in 1937 in Madrid, Spain. He moved to Paris, France in order to pursue his first artistic attempts, although it was only until after he finished studying journalism in Madrid. Eduardo was against dictatorship both politically and artistically, but he was still able to make a living as a painter in 1960. It is obvious that he is against dictatorship due to the fact that presented a series of portraits of dictators for a biannual exhibition in Paris, which caused a lot of controversy and the Spanish government even opposed it so much that they personally made their disapproval public. The same year an exhibition was supposed to take place in Madrid, but he couldn’t be there for the opening, because the Spanish dictator ordered for his arrest and a few days later it was ultimately canceled altogether. Eduardo Arroyo showed bravery and justice when he challenged the unfairness of dictatorship in his paintings, which is exactly why the dictator of Spain took his passport in 1974. However, he did end up getting it back after the dictator’s death in 1976. A few years later, Eduardo was finally appreciated for his work and he received the Spanish National Fine Arts Prize in 1982. That same year he also held a reflective exhibition at the Pompidou Centre in Paris as a sort of praise for his brilliant work and artistic status. Not only was Eduardo an exceptional painter, but he later worked as a
