April 25 to May 25 Exhibition of work by artist Fernando Carpena in Yecla

The centenary of Fernando Carpena Puche’s birth in Yecla is celebrated at the church of San Francisco

This slightly belated centenary exhibition of the work of artist Fernando Carpena Puche, who was born in Yecla on 23rd April 1924 (International Book Day), is being held at the church fo San Francisco in his home town from Friday April 25 until May 25.

Carpena Puche showed an early interest in art and his parents engaged the services of local painter Amelio Quiles Berenguer to help him develop his talent. The family soon moved to Madrid, where young Fernando worked as a chauffer and found an entry into the capital’s more elite social and cultural circles before being accepted by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.

When the family returned to Yecla he was obliged to help out in the family fishmonger’s, but after the death of his father he returned to art in the 19490s. He remained creatively productive until the end of the dictatorship in 1975, his output including dozens of paintings and a host of drawings, sketches, notes and other fascinating items, leading to his being acknowledged as one of Yecla’s finest painters of the 20^th century.

The exhibition at the church of San Francisco can be seen every day of the week apart from Mondays between 19.00 and 21.00.

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