Juan Reus (1912-2003)
Original Vintage Bullfighting Poster
September 1942
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 1942 edition advertises a bullfighting event, featuring Marcial Lalanda, Manuel Rodriguez Manolete – often considered one of the greatest bullfighters of all time -, Pepe Luis Vázquez and Juan Mari Peréz Taberno.
