Antonio Saura was born in Huesca in 1930. He taught himself to paint in 1947 while he was convalescing from tuberculosis, which maintained him immobile for five years. He started his artistic career in Madrid; and from 1953 he spent long periods in Paris. His initial surrealism soon gave way to Baroque abstraction, which was to be the characteristic of the group known as ‘El Paso’, of which he was one of the founding members. The same occurred with his use of colour, which went from being very expressive in the early stages and ultimately evolved towards a practically monochromatic style of painting with particular emphasis on grey. He also designed theatre sets for works such as ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ in 1963, and the opera ‘Carmen’, directed by his brother Carlos Saura. He died in Cuenca in 1998.