Erotica I Marginala, from the Mask of the Red Death series

Spanish/American Painter & Printmaker & Instructor Federico Castellón was born in Almeria, Spain and came to the United States in 1921at the age of 7. Though virtually self-taught, he received a fellowship from the Ministry of State of the Spanish Republic. In 1935 he participated in the Paris Exhibition of Spanish Artists, which included Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Juan Gris. Beginning about 1940, he became a serious printmaker, both in lithography and etching. His work is mostly done in the surrealist tradition and his prints include "Bengalese Sisters," "By the Arks" and "The Proposal," among many others. He became an American citizen in 1943 and taught successively in New York at Teacher’s College of Columbia University, Pratt Institute, and Queen’s College. Castellón received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1949 and the following year he was elected a member of the National Academy. He was awarded a second Guggenheim Fellowship in 1968.