Departures of note

Manuel Boix Álvarez was a Spanish artist born in La Alcudia, Valencia, in 1942, who studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos in Valencia. He was one of the introducers of new realism in Spain during the 1960s, emerging on the Valencian art scene in 1964 with the Tríptic monoteïsta alongside painters Artur Heras and Rafael Armengol. His figurative, precise style made him one of the principal graphic chroniclers of the cultural life of the Valencian Community. He was especially renowned for his etchings, notably his celebrated vision of Tirante el Blanco, as well as his representations of the Germanías and his designs for nearly all the album covers of the group Al Tall. He also illustrated books such as El Quijote and collaborated with publications including La codorniz, El Viejo Topo, Quimera and La Vanguardia. In 1980 he was awarded Spain's National Prize for Plastic Arts, and after a long stay in New York in the late 1980s he returned to the Valencian scene as a sculptor in 1992 with the exhibition El punt dins el moviment, followed by series such as Borja, El Laberint and Els equilibristes. He died in his hometown of La Alcudia on 23 September 2026.