"Santa Engracia" Painting

Santiago Goñi’s artwork stems from a deep, lifelong connection with nature and the landscape. He began his artistic journey in photography, training in visual syntax and traditional black-and-white developing—a discipline that deeply refined his eye for light and composition. Driven by a desire for physical matter, volume, and texture, he naturally transitioned into the world of painting. For years, Goni meticulously studied the brushwork and styles of history’s greatest masters—from the light experimentation of Monet and Van Gogh to the structural power of Picasso and Modigliani. This rigorous self-directed study solidified his passion for pure color and led him toward a style deeply rooted in Impressionism, accented by bold Fauvist undertones. Currently, his painterly language expands into a new phase of formal exploration through the profound study of the great masters of figure and chiaroscuro, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, El Greco, and Caravaggio. This immersion into classical academicism and dramatic lighting has given birth to his series of female nudes and skin studies, where he alternates the subtlety of brush glazes with the energy and volume of the palette knife on canvas. His main subjects thus oscillate between the vibration of landscapes, anatomical studies, and a recent evolution toward the organic abstraction of natural elements.