Baroja, Ricardo (1871-1953)

Painter, engraver, actor and writer. Between 1888 and 1891 he studied at the Escuela de Diplomática to become a member of the Cuerpo de Archivos y Bibliotecas and also attended a painting academy where he was taught by Eugenio Vivó.
In Valencia he met the painter Julio Peris Brell, with whom he struck up a long friendship. In the meantime he illustrated his brother Pío Baroja’s first books. He soon devoted himself fully to art, illustrating in publications such as Alma española, Arte Joven and Electra. Together with his brother Pío Baroja, he was editor of El Globo. He also devoted himself to painting and engraving, exhibiting his work in various cities and taking part in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts on numerous occasions.
He mainly painted portraits and scenes of popular life, in a tone somewhere between Goyaesque and romantic.
In 1910 he co-founded the Sociedad de Grabadores Españoles.
An accident caused him to lose an eye, and from then on he devoted himself fully to his literary work.
His artistic oeuvre is extensive: over one hundred and thirty engravings, some one thousand oil paintings and two dozen books, including essays and novels, as well as a large scattered body of work as an article writer in various magazines and newspapers.