The Cieza-born artist suffered a fall a few days ago that caused serious respiratory problems that he has not been able to overcome.
The Mayor of Cieza, Tomás Rubio, on behalf of the entire Municipal Corporation and the city of Cieza, has publicly expressed his condolences to the family of the Cieza-born painter and sculptor José Lucas, who died tonight in Madrid, the city where he lived.
Lucas died at the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid due to complications from respiratory failure following a fall. He was 77 years old. Last Wednesday, he suffered an accident that resulted in a fractured hip, which eventually led to a fatal outcome. His children, Antonio and María Lucas, have publicly confirmed his death. By the painter's express intention, there will be no funeral, and his ashes will be placed in the family vault in the Cieza cemetery.
José Lucas was born in Cieza in 1945 and spent almost his entire artistic career in Madrid. He entered the artistic world at the age of 11, receiving his first drawing classes from the sculptor Juan Solano at his town's local academy. He continued his training at the School of Arts and Crafts of Murcia and since 1969 took up residence in Madrid, enrolling in the Circle of Fine Arts and in the Academy of Fine Arts of San FernandoHe became friends with the leading painters, writers, and poets of the time. For a year he lived as a scholar in Germany, where he came into direct contact with the abstract expressionism, whose teachings, together with those of Spanish expressionists such as Luis García-Ochoa Ibáñez and Francisco Mateos, have had such an impact on his work. He has received numerous painting awards and held a significant number of exhibitions, as well as various murals monumental. His works are based on a personal and free approach and are characterized by their energetic and forceful strokes and by the use of a palette of violent colors and a wide variety of techniques (collage, oil, drawing, mixed media). He has created the cover of the book Historia del eremita, by his fellow countryman Miguel Espinosa.
Among his most notable works are the mural at the Regional Assembly of the Autonomous Community of Murcia, based in Cartagena; a mural on the Paseo de Cieza; murals at the RENFE Station in Murcia; large-format works at the Fontes Palace in Murcia; murals at the headquarters of the Segura Hydrographic Confederation in Murcia; and Chamartín RENFE Station in Madrid.