André Martins de Barros, Spanish, b. 1942

André Martins de Barros was born in 1942, in Pau, a small town in the foothills of the Pyrenees near the Spanish border. André is a self taught artist; he began painting at the age of 15. In 1962, after completing his service in the army, he traveled to Paris where he worked as a portrait artist in Montmartre. In the early 1980s, André established an art gallery and painting studio in Montmartre.

“As for my main themes, let's say that I like to represent all emotions, be it sadness or joy. It is important. Metaphysics would be one, since we go back, but it is rather the mystery, the fascination that it makes me discover. I will for example use special lights in my painting, to give a mystery. To bring out a subject that goes with the thought of the individual. And that's very important.”
André Martins de Barros

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Portrait of an Old Man Reading a Newspaper