Beach Inspired Impressionistic Painting

Alfons Martin del Burgo was born in Alcoy, Alicante (Spain) in 1951 to a family of garment workers – his father was a tailor and his mother was a dressmaker. He has two younger sisters and an older brother. Growing up, del Burgo’s talents for drawing were recognized and at the age of fifteen, he purchased his first brushes and basic oil paints in order to begin his painting practices. He is a self-taught artist. After completing his schooling, del Burgo moved to Valencia were he worked in the administrative department for a shipping repair company. Knowing that he needed to expand his training, he completed a course in Computer Programming and Analysis and two years at the business and economic school in Valencia. While he worked and studied, he never stopped practicing and developing his artistic trade and in his spare time, he would attend Life Drawing classes at the Fine Arts Circle of Valencia. In 1975, del Burgo married his wife, Isabel. They have no children. After a visit to the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam in 1990 to see an extraordinary exhibition that gathered together works of Van Gogh from museums all over the world, del Burgo was so inspired that he became a professional painter – quitting his job and dedicating his life to the art that he so loves. Inspired by the art of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, El Greco, Velázquez, Goya and Sorolla, del Burgo enjoys traveling throughout Europe to find his muse. He loves to visit museums and is a member of the Valencian Institute of Modern Art Friends. He is a regular visitor of the Fine Arts Museum San Pio V (Valencia) and enjoys visiting museums during his travels. Del Burgo is fascinated by nature and likes to sketch landscapes that catch his attention. These drawings help him memorize the colors, the elements, the sensations and the concepts of the locale of inspiration, and later allow him to develop his work back in his studio. His paintings are unique - taking landscapes and beachscapes as a starting point and playing with shapes and colors in order to take a simple scene and turn it into a vibrant painting, attracting collectors and allowing them to become a part of his work. Today, his motifs also include his unique florals. Del Burgo appreciates the talent it takes to create art so, in his free time, enjoys attending exhibitions of other artists’ work. He also enjoys reading and sports such as soccer, handball and running. Foremost, he is an artist whose work has caught the attention of collectors throughout Spain and now America.