The Story Behind these El Greco Prints

El Greco (1541-1614) was a painter born in Crete who began his artistic journey depicting Greek orthodox icons and their expressions of suffering and poignancy. El Greco prints have an original style that meets at the crossroads of mannerism and mysticism. El Greco prints represented the transcendence of life by using acid colours to portray surreal anatomies and elongated figures.

In the 1560s-1570s, he travelled across Italy and spent some time in Venice and Rome. In Venice, he became a disciple of Titian who was a leading member of the Venetian school. He then proceeded to Rome and spent time there between 1570-76, where he made some important connections whilst also burning a few bridges when he unfavourably critiqued Michelangelo's, The Last Judgment. Whilst in Rome, he developed a preference for painting in the dark to allow his “inner light” to guide him.

Around 1576, he ventured to Spain where one of his associates summoned him to the ancient city of Toledo. There he gained commissions from the Toledo Cathedral and went on to receive many portrait commissions from notable figures. His unique approach is said to have been before his time and after his death in 1614, his only remaining significant fan was his son. It wasn’t until the eras of Romanticism, Surrealism and Cubism that he developed a significant following; when admirers were inspired by the dreamlike imagery, emotional complexity and fantastical construction of forms and figures through El Greco prints.