It has been said that Spanish master artists exhibit poetry through their subjects; Justo Revilla is not an exception to this rule for he possesses the talent to observe and penetrate his subject matter. Whether landscapes, figures, interiors, exteriors, still lifes or flowers, it is without question that Revilla is inspired by domestic life and the human experience.
Revilla, born in Madrid, Spain in 1940 began his artistic career at the age of thirteen where he also attended the Arts and Crafts school. While working in a poster studio he practiced drawing from nature in the Circle of Fine Arts to eventually apply to college in San Fernando. After having graduated from college, at the age of twenty-five Revilla was actively participating in group exhibitions and competitions, meanwhile establishing in the art community a place for himself as a painter of unique talent and notable worth. Revilla has a sensitivity to form and creation that is exhibited through his master ability to draw, which he views as the technical aspect of the creative process.
Influenced by Spanish Masters Francisco de Goya, Diego Velazquez and Franz Hals, these artists practiced and utilized the Spanish technique of tenebrism-- using various shades of dark hues to portray an image, a characteristic commonly seen throughout Revilla’s images.
The journey of life and the human experience is a theme that Revilla expands upon within his paintings. By appealing to sentiments of the observer, Revilla depicts on canvas that he is empathetic to the individuals he portrays, those who live and have a past. Primarily depicting the elderly he believes that wisdom is achieved through life’s experiences. The ability to focus simultaneously on beauty and proportion, he successfully attempts to raise his subject from reality to a spiritual realm.