Biography of the Painter Hernán Cortés Moreno
1953
Born in Cádiz.
1970
First portraits, self-portraits, landscapes of Cádiz and its bay.
1971
Enrolls in the College of Fine Arts at Santa Isabel de Hungría, Seville.
1972
Paints his first abstract paintings.
Transfers to the College of Fine Arts at San Fernando, Madrid.
1977-79
Landscapes of the Bay of Cádiz and villages of the province.
1978
Group exhibition at the Savings Bank of Jerez de la Frontera.
Solo exhibition in the Gallery of the Savings Bank of Cádiz.
1979
Travels to Italy for the first time.
Paintings of the human figure set against a social backdrop.
1980
Receives a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the College of San Fernando, Madrid.
Begins engraving at the Boj Workshop directed by Dimitri Papageorgiu.
Solo exhibitions in the gallery Nolde de Navacerrada (Madrid) and in the Casa de la Cultura de Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real).
Museum of Contemporary Art, Jaén.
Travels to Italy for a second time.
1981
Directs Open Workshops on the Plastic Arts at the College of Architecture, Cádiz.
Begins a series of life-size drawings of the human figure.
Travels to England.
1982
Solo exhibition in the College of Architecture, Cádiz.
Temporary solo exhibition in the Museum of Fine Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania and in the House of Friendship with Peoples of Foreign Countries (Moscow).
Group exhibition “Contemporary Andalusian Engravers”. Palacio de la Madraza, Granada.
Portrait of José María Pemán (Pemán House, Cádiz).
1983
Portraits of Jorge Guillén, Dámaso Alonso, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Rafael Alberti and other poets from the Generation of ’27.
Portraits of Dámaso Alonso (Spanish Royal Academy), Fernando Meléndez, Richard Conahay, etc.
Exhibitions in the Gallery El Monte “Second Festival of Fine Arts” in Seville and in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Seville, “Contemporary Andalusian Engravers”.
1984
Group exhibitions in the Gallery El Monte “Third Festival of Fine Arts” in Seville and “150 years of Cádiz Artwork” in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz).
Portrait of Luis Fitz, James Stuart, etc.
1985
Solo exhibition in Gallery Seiquer (Madrid) and Stand in Arco 85.
Temporary exhibition “Five Painters and a Sculptor. Monograph on the Human Figure”, Gallery El Monte (Seville) and Casa de la Cultura de la Diputación, Cordoba.
First Medal for the painting “Carmen Bustamante” (Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Cádiz).
Portraits of Juan Antonio García Díez (Minister of Finance).
1990
Group exhibition “Evolution and Continuity in Realism”, Gallery Seiquer (Madrid).
Portraits of Ricardo Gómez-Acebo, Fernando Salas, Mari Conde, (Banesto). Count of Orgaz, Juan Riu, José Antonio Martín Rite (Parliament of Andalusia).
1992
Retrospective exhibition “Cortés” in the Museum of Fine Arts, Cádiz and in the College of Architecture, Cádiz.
Portraits of Severo Ochoa, Fernando Savater, etc.
1993
Retrospective exhibition “Cortés” in La Capilla del Oidor de la Fundación Colegio del Rey de Alcalá de Henares (Madrid).
Portrait of Pedro Laín Entralgo (Spanish Royal Academy).
1994
Induction into the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Cádiz.
Portraits of Taro Nakayama (Japanese Parliament), Jose Fina Gómez Mendoza (UAM), Sofía Pérez de Guzmán.
1996
Portraits of Yehudi Menuhin and Paloma O’Shea for the College of Music.
Portraits of Queen Sofía, Angel Alonso, etc.
1997
Portraits of King Juan Carlos I (King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center of New York University), Prince of Asturias (EFE Agency for “Spain, 20 years of Democracy”), Princess Cristina (Community of Madrid), Javier Pérez Royo (University of Seville) and José Ortega Spottorno (EL PAÍS)
1998
Portraits of Javier Solana (Secretary of the Exterior), Bernardo Cremades, Antonio Zoido (Madrid Stock Exchange), Salvador Sánchez Terán (Minister of Public Works), Jesús de Polanco, Plácido Arango and Jonathan Brown.
2000
Exhibition “Cortés” in King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center of New York University.
Portraits of Francisco Ayala, Cándido Velázquez Gaztelu (Telefónica).
2001
Portraits of Rafael Arias Salgado (Minister of Public Works), Esperanza Aguirre (Minister of Education) and Pilar Solís.
2002
Portraits of John Elliot, Hugh Thomas, Raymond Carr, Rafael Argullol and of King Juan Carlos I in sports attire.
2003
Exhibition in the Galería del 98 del Centro Cultural Conde Duque entitled: “Cortés. El retrato como problema pictórico” (Cortés: The Portrait as Pictorial Problem).
Portrait of Carlos Solchaga (Minister of Industry and Energy) and of the painter Eduardo Sanz.
2004
Portraits of Rodrigo Rato (Minister of Finance), the Princess of Asturias (Madrid City Council), Alberto Ruiz Gallardón (Community of Madrid).
2005
Conference entitled: “La experiencia del retrato en la actualidad” (The Experience of the Portrait in Present Times), Museo del Prado.
Exhibition entitled: “La luz de Cádiz en la pintura de Cortés” (The Light of Cádiz in the Paintings of Cortés) Gallery of San Fernando Bank. Corporate Citizenship. Cádiz
Portraits of Iñigo Cavero (State Council), Gregorio Marañón Bertrán de Lis, Raúl Villar (UAM), and Felipe González (former President of Spain).
2006
Portraits of Sir Ronald Cohen, Amancio Ortega, Francisco González (BBVA Collection), Jaime Caruana (Banco de España), Ignacio Berdugo (University of Salamanca) and Luisa Fernanda Rudi (Congreso de los Diputados).
2007
Conference entitled: “La experiencia del retrato en la actualidad” (The Experience of the Portrait in Present Times), Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza.
Portraits of Juan Miguel Villar-Mir (Villar-Mir Collection) and Jose Antonio Torroja (College of Engineering, Streets, Channels and Ports, Madrid).
2008
Portrait of Elías Masaveu (Masaveu Collection), of Queen Sofía for the College of Music Queen Sofía and Iñigo Oriol.
2009
Retrospective exhibition “Cortés, el retrato como opción estética” (Cortés, the Portrait as an Aesthetic Choice), Gallery of Cajasol, Seville and in the Main Office of IberCaja in Zaragoza.
Finishes the polyptych Padres de la Constitution for the Congreso de los Diputados.
2010
Portraits of Matias Cortés, Victor Garcia de la Concha, Jaime Montalvo and Luis Pascual Navarrete.
2011
Portraits of Manuel Pizarro, Ángel Gabilondo (UAM) Frances Lannon (Lady Margret Hall, Oxford University), Rodrigo Rato (FMI, Washington) and José María Aznar (Former President of Spain).
In December, finishes for the Senate the 34 portraits which make up the “Commemorative Work of the XXX Anniversary of the First Democratic Elections Held on 15 June, 1977”.
2012
Portraits of Amado Franco (IberCaja), Miguel Florencio Lora (University of Seville).
Exhibition of the commemorative portraits for the Congreso y Senado in the Museum of Cádiz for the bicentennial of the Constitution of 1812. Catalog Edition: “Cortés, Portraits for a Constitution”.
2013
Named by the Ministry of Education, Cultural and Athletics: Patron of the Royal Patronage of the Museo del Prado.
Print of Juan Belmonte, commissioned by the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla (Royal Calvary of Seville) and portrait of the brotherhood’s then Hermano Mayor, Alfonso Guajardo-Fajardo.
Portraits of King Juan Carlos I (University of Salamanca), Pascual Sala Sánchez (Constitutional Tribunal), and Fernando Caruncho.
Conferences entitled: “El retrato pictórico hoy” (The Pictorial Portrait Today) in the Fundación Tres Culturas del Mediterráneo (Seville) and, within a series of lectures at UCM, “La Maestría es un grado” (Mastery is a Degree).
Magisterial Course at UIMP: “La experiencia del retrato en la actualidad” (The Experience of the Portrait in Present Times).
2014
Conference entitled “Cuatro Cuadros” (Four Paintings) within the lecture series ENFOQUES held at the Museo del Prado.
Course on painting, theoretic and applied, in the Fine Arts Department of the Universidad Complutense, Madrid.
Print Design of the Summer Advanced Courses in Santander for the International University Menéndez Pelayo.
Portraits of Fernando Peña, Francisco Riberas and Pía Aguirreche.
2015
Portraits of Alicia Koplowitz, Guillermo de la Dehesa and Norman Foster.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Granada and the Medal of the Province of Cadiz.
Named one of Cádiz’s honorary citizens.