Juan Reus (1912-2003)
Original Vintage Bullfighting Poster
March 1944
107cm x 53cm
Juan Reus was born in 1912 in Valencia, where he became a well-known painter, draftsman and, notably, graphic designer of bullfighting posters. Orphaned at birth, Reus attended school until the age of seven, at which point he began work as an apprentice at a local hardware store, where he met the painter Constantino Gómez, piquing his artistic interests. He later went to work in a decorative fans shop and held his first exhibition in the bazaars of Prats and Collado in Valencia. In the 1940s, he was hired as a graphic designer of bullfighting posters in the lithographic Ortega workshop. These posters are generally characterised by bright colours and fluid, gestural movements, whereby the swish of the matador’s cloak is almost palpable.
This 1944 edition advertises a bullfighting event in Castellón, featuring Pepe Luis Vazquez, Rafael Ortega Gallito and Manuel Alvarez Andaluz.
