1919-2010

Born in Jerez, where he would build one of his last and most important works – the covered exercise ring of the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, a building of traditional Andalusian style built in 1980 –, José Luis Picardo graduated in 1950 from the Madrid School of Architecture, where he stood out for his exceptional drawing talent; mural painting was, in fact, his main source of income during his youth, and his first professional commission was a mural for the Fígaro cinemas, by Luis Moya Blanco. As an architect, Picardo developed an eclectic oeuvre that includes boldly modern proposals such as the Juan March Foundation building in Madrid, inaugurated in 1975 – a volume of rounded corners divided into horizontal bands of glass and marble, of great simplicity and elegance –, and also historicist interventions in heritage, such as the ‘paradors’ (state-run tourist hotels) of the Santa Catalina Castle in Jaén, of the Carmona Castle in Seville, and of the Sigüenza Castle in Guadalajara, carried out during the 1970s. Picardo joined the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1998, and received the Antonio Camuñas Award in 2001.