In 1957, he exhibited with Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, and Pablo Picasso at the Bruxelles International Expo, Spanish Pavilion. In 1963, Fuertes left for Rome, where he won the first place prize for his painting "Torneo Medieval", awarded by the Grand Prix de Rome for Painting and Sculpture. It was in Italy that he developed a friendship with Giorgio de Chirico, the master painter of metaphysical art, with whom, in 1965, he exhibited his work alongside notable constructivists and surrealists such as Balthus, Umberto Boccioni and Carlo Carra. Upon his return to Paris, Fuertes met Alechinsky. He would also meet regularly with Apel and other artists at the La Coupole Café on the Boulevard du Montparnasse. It was at these meetings that Fuertes began his friendship with the abstract painter, Viola.