page_title: José Comas Quesada
section_title: Last phase: 1982-1992
hierarchical_section_title: José Comas Quesada / Last phase: 1982-1992
caption_attribution_description: Español: Monumento dedicado al célebre acuarelista en la Alameda de Colón de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Obra del escultor José Perera Valido (1995). La inscripción de la placa dice lo siguiente: "La muy noble y muy leal ciudad del Real de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Al pintor José Comas Quesada. 1928-1993."
context_page_description: José Comas Quesada was a Canarian painter born in the Puerto de la Luz, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He is considered one of the greatest exponents of watercolour painting, both in the Canaries and Spain, of the last quarter of the 20th century.
context_section_description: In the last stage of his artistic career he broke with the illustrative and tried non-traditional compositions, he became more sober in colour and blend tonalities looking for a wider range of colours. This synthetic and suggestive line though not new, it is at this stage of creative maturity when it get a creative peak. As he stressed at the time: 
  “Me siento subyugado por los efectos neblinosos, por las brumas, las aguas encharcadas… atmósfera intemporal que produce efecto onírico. Es como si buscara en el paisaje que encanto hay detrás, en lo que no se ve, en ese misterioso más allá que no percibimos pero sí admiramos… sugiero una idea, elimino elementos que no me interesan, abstraigo de la realidad”.
  In September 1991, which would be the last exhibition held during his lifetime, presented a trilogy called: "La Vieja Ciudad" (The Old Town), "Rincones Isleños" (Island Spots) and "Espacios Abiertos" (Open Spaces). Regarding the first, the watercolorist recovered again the subject Las Palmas old quarter, but dealt with a renewed technique with an agile and vigorous brushwork, more decision in drawing and a greater chromaticism in his palette, highlighting he was a painter whose artistic expression was always in constant evolution and searching new ways of expression.
  What characterizes and defines the pictorial production of Comas is a constant interest in both the traditional architecture and natural landscapes of the coasts, midlands and highlands of Gran Canaria, seascapes, houses with tile roof, patios and balconies, and so on. Likewise, he also painted many of the most representative places of the island of Tenerife, as well as some of Fuerteventura.
  The style of the watercolorist is completely identifiable, from the colour to the atmosphere, -that extraordinary use, but without exceeding, of the sfumato- everything has an emphasis in the area of the card: line and perspective, differentiation of plans, wash fluency, etc. There is a constant preference to reproduce certain effects and atmospheric elements that give many of his paintings a distinctive feature; fog, skies of various coloured clouds, water reflections, puddles, rainy days, etc. Seascapes where the form becomes evanescent, treatments of blue, white and golden exquisites which remind of one of the great masters of watercolour of all times, of Turner.
  He joined to the tenets of the so-called "experimental watercolour", name that opened two exhibitions in 1966 and 1971 respectively in La Laguna (Tenerife). This trend advocated for experimentation, surpassing the traditional molds that dominated the genre and offering a renewed vision in keeping with the style of the moment.
  
  José Comas Quesada was a virtuoso of drawing, an impeccable master of the classic watercolour who knew how to reflect the light and the colour of the Canaries. According to his own words: 
  “He pintado con gusto y para mí es una satisfacción el dominio de la técnica. Pero no es pintar por pintar, hay que pintar con sentimiento, con el corazón, y hay que ser profesional”.
caption: Comas Quesada memorial in his hometown.
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