Santa Pau Painting

Xavier Saus i Ortega, born in Moixent (Valencia, Spain) in 1990, is a realistic figurative painter. He started painting during his youth in Xàtiva, in the studio of master painter Vicent Giner i Valls. At this time, and due to the influence of his teacher, he developed a naturalistic technique with a preponderance of color over form. From this stage he will retain resources and techniques such as the freshness of a loose brushstroke, the mastery and primacy of color and the verism in the representations. Since 2022 he has been developing series of portraits or scenes of the human figure made from models, usually people from his environment. In the earliest collection we find classical compositions alongside others that are more erotic or sensual. Later he creates a second collection of half-length portraits on a neutral and unobtrusive background with which he wants to highlight and monumentalize the person represented. His goal in the portrait is always to capture and communicate to the observer some aspect of the person's character. Finally, he has developed a line in which he abandons the natural lighting characteristic of the first two series, moving towards contrasted, focused and artificial lighting. The result is a more theatrical and baroque collection. This impression is reinforced by the introduction of the use of wrinkled fabrics in the composition and the greater drama in the expression and position of the figures.