A major retrospective celebrating the work of watercolour artist José Miguel Masiá will open at Torrevieja’s Virgen del Carmen Cultural Centre on Tuesday, September 8.
Mayor Eduardo Dolón and Councillor for Education and Universities Ricardo Recuero will officially inaugurate Magic of Watercolour: Imagined Reality at 7pm. The exhibition will remain open to visitors until October 4.
Organised by the Torrevieja branch of the UNED university and curated by Jesucristo Riquelme, the exhibition will feature 45 works drawn from the artist’s own collection and several private collections.
The retrospective explores Masiá’s artistic development and his distinctive interpretation of reality through watercolour. His paintings combine light, colour, technique and emotion to create scenes that encourage different interpretations, transforming recognisable subjects through imagination.
Although Masiá describes himself as largely self-taught, his development was strongly influenced by Moroccan avant-garde watercolourist Moustaphá Ben Lahmar. During time spent in Morocco, Masiá studied the handling of pigment, moisture and drying techniques used to produce the light, movement and transparency that characterise his paintings.
His work also reflects the influence of American artist Thomas Schaller, particularly his dramatic use of light and carefully controlled compositions, and Uruguayan-born Australian watercolourist Álvaro Castagnet.
Masiá initially painted mainly from life but later began transforming photographic source material into compositions in which reality is reinterpreted through imagination and emotion.
His work has appeared in numerous national and international exhibitions. He was a special guest at collective exhibitions in Fabriano, Italy, in 2016; Rome in 2017; and Liège, Belgium, in 2023.
His first solo exhibition was held in Murcia in 1991, followed by exhibitions in Madrid in 2013. During 2025, he presented his work in El Puig, Valencia, and Brioude in France. He also exhibited alongside Ben Lahmar in Tangier and Casablanca in 2018.
The opening will include a tribute to veteran artist Manuel Balaguer, known as “Mamel”, who became the first director of Torrevieja’s Municipal Painting School and led it from 1990 until 2011.
Born in Larache in 1945, Balaguer is recognised for his watercolours, transparent engravings and accomplished use of colour. One of his still-life paintings was selected for the cover of a charitable Vega Baja recipe book.
The exhibition presents watercolour as a medium capable of suggesting rather than revealing everything, leaving viewers free to bring their own emotions and interpretations to each work.
