Luis Ortega Bru
{{Short description|Spanish sculptor}}
{{Infobox person/Wikidata | fetchwikidata=ALL}}
Luis Ortega Brú (September 16, 1916 – November 21, 1982) was a Spanish sculptor and carver. He was famed for his Christian figures, especially Jesus and the Virgin Mary.{{cite book|last=Mena|first=Jesús Luengo|title=Compendio de Las Cofradías de Sevilla: Que Procesionan a la Santa Iglesia Catedral en Semana Santa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mnQ9YqRryrkC&pg=PA122|accessdate=1 January 2013|date=1 January 2007|publisher=Editorial Renacimiento|isbn=978-84-96133-89-1|page=122|language=Spanish}}{{cite book|last=Santalo|first=León Carlos Álvarez|title=Las cofradias de Sevilla: historia, antropología, arte|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S8l5JPiI1KMC&pg=PA237|accessdate=1 January 2013|year=1999|publisher=Universidad de Sevilla|isbn=978-84-472-0510-3|page=237|language=Spanish}}
Biography
A native of San Roque, Cádiz, his father was a potter, who influenced him from quite a young age with clay figures. In 1931, he studied sculpture at the School of Arts and Crafts of Linea de la Concepcion,{{cite web|url=http://www.cadizcofrade.net/imagineros/ortegabru.htm|title= Luis Ortega Bru:un genio del siglo XX|publisher=Cadizcofrade.net|accessdate=1 January 2013|language=Spanish}} and in 1934 received drawing lessons with a teacher and poet from San Roque, José Domingo de Mena.
His parents were shot during the Spanish Civil War, and in 1940 he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for the offense of aiding the rebellion. In 1944 he moved to Seville, enrolling in the School of Applied Arts. In this city he became known in art circles, making his first exhibition in 1949. In 1952 he received the Primer Premio Nacional de Escultura (National Award for Sculpture) for "La Piedad" ("Piety").{{cite book|last=Lacruz|first=Francisco Agramunt|title=Arte y represión en la guerra civil española: artistas en checas, cárceles y campos de concentración|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=poIjAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=1 January 2013|year=2005|publisher=Generalitat Valenciana|language=Spanish|isbn=978-84-482-4081-3|page=567}} In 1955 he moved to Madrid as a master sculptor of the Talleres Arte de Granada, later opening his own workshop in the capital. In 1978 he returned to Seville, working in the studio of Guzmán Bejarano. He died in Seville in 1982.
There is a museum dedicated to his work in his home town{{cite web|url=http://www.cadizturismo.com/destinos/provincias/cadiz/municipios/san-roque/?set_language=en |title=San Roque|publisher=Cadiz Tourism|accessdate= 2 January 2013}} and his local parish church features his Most Holy Christ of the Happy Death.{{cite web|title=Saint Mary the Crowned Parish Church Saint Mary the Crowned Parish Church|url=http://www.sanroque.es/tourism/monuments/iglesia-santa-maria-la-coronada/view?set_language=en|publisher=sanroque.es|accessdate=1 January 2013}}
References
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Category:People from San Roque, Cádiz
Category:20th-century Spanish sculptors
Category:20th-century Spanish male artists