Ignacio Suárez Llanos
1830–1881 · Spanish 19th-century painter and illustrator, known for portraits
Ignacio Suárez Llanos (Gijón, 1830 – Madrid, 1881) was a Spanish painter and illustrator of the nineteenth century, best known for his portraits. Although born in Gijón, he moved to Madrid while still young and lived there until his death, building his entire career in the capital.
He trained at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and its affiliated school, the Escuela Superior de Pintura, where his teachers included Bernardino Montañés and Federico de Madrazo. He later received a government scholarship to continue his studies in Rome. He was a regular exhibitor at the national fine arts exhibitions, earning a third-class medal in 1860 and a first prize in 1862 for a scene from the life of Sister Marcela de San Félix.
His best-remembered works are his portraits, among them those of Emilio Castelar, Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, Queen María Cristina, the writer Gaspar Núñez de Arce, Antonio García Gutiérrez and his brother-in-law, the ceramicist Daniel Zuloaga. Some of these have become standard illustrations in textbooks. He regularly contributed illustrations to the magazine El Arte en España and served on the juries of many exhibitions. From 1866 he taught at the Real Academia de San Fernando, and in 1873 he was given the chair of Pictorial Anatomy. He was named an academician in 1881, but died suddenly before he could formally accept the post.