Curriculum

He was brought up in a well-off family and when he was still a child he already showed his vocation for painting. After starting Secondary Education, he gave up his studies to devote himself to painting, his passion. In 1873, he moved to Madrid to study in a famous academy thanks to the money his brother sent from Cuba. In 1875, he also emigrated to Cuba. He went on painting and he became famous both in Cuba and Puerto Rico. In 1881, he returned to Spain and he definitively established himself in Madrid, where he went on with his artistic career taking part in many exhibitions and national contests. Miguel Ángel dealt with customs and manners and historical topics, but he mainly painted portraits. He did not earn much money as a painter. He mainly worked as an artistic sub-editor in the newspapers Nuevo Mundo and El Liberal and as an illustrator in the magazine 'Casa Calleja'.