14 Facts About Ulpiano Checa

Ulpiano Fernandez-Checa y Sanz, known as Ulpiano Checa, was a Spanish painter, sculptor, poster designer and illustrator.

Ulpiano Checa used both impressionistic and academic techniques, and mainly painted historical subjects.

Ulpiano Checa was born in Colmenar de Oreja, Spain, and exhibited a talent for art when he was a young child.

Ulpiano Checa was an outstanding student, which led him to get two grants for painting, and a position as assistant professor in the subject of perspective.

Ulpiano Checa worked as an assistant to Manuel Dominguez in the decoration of the Palace of Linares and the Basilica San Francisco el Grande, two of the largest decorative projects in Madrid during the last decades of the century.

Ulpiano Checa fixed his gaze upon Paris, which was by then the cultural center of Europe.

Ulpiano Checa met Matilde Chaye, herself a painter, from a prominent Gascon family of Argentine origin, and in 1890 they married.

Ulpiano Checa never forgot his origins, and returned to Spain on several occasions to spend time resting and visiting friends and relatives in Colmenar de Oreja.

Ulpiano Checa's name became well-known in art circles and he was considered to be one of the most promising Spanish painters who worked in the French capital.

Ulpiano Checa participated in numerous shows, both in and outside of Paris, and won prizes in many of them.

Ulpiano Checa entered shows throughout Europe, and in Argentina, Brazil, Algeria and Tunisia.

Ulpiano Checa made this trip to settle his wife's financial affairs, but, after learning of the important art market that was developing there, he extended his stay for several months.

Ulpiano Checa exhibited in major galleries in Azul, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

Ulpiano Checa continued sending paintings to the Salon in Paris and, in 1912, staged a solo exhibition at the Gallerie Imberti in Bordeaux.