Image courtesy of www.lagacetadesalamanca.es |
From 1948 to 1952 Sanchez
followed a correspondence course in drawing at the Macko Institute in
Barcelona. He followed that from 1952 to 1955 by studying topographic drawing
at the Topographic Brigade in Madrid. During those years he also followed a
general drawing course at the Arts and Crafts School in Madrid. From 1951 to
1958 Sanchez followed a free course at the engravers training school of the
FNMT-RCM in Madrid.
Military service intervened but after having finished that,
Sanchez joined the National Association of Painters and Sculptors in Madrid. To
make ends meet he not only worked for the Association, drawing posters for
exhibiting fellow artists, but, from 1956 to 1959, he also worked as a painter-decorator
at the Biro cinema and theatre studios in Madrid.
Sanchez continued to make a name for himself, his paintings being
awarded third price by the National Association of Painters and Sculptors in
1961 and second prize the year after. He would for ever regard it as his finest
moments.
From 1962 to 1966 he was head of the advertising design
department of the Milko studios in Madrid. During that time he also received
training at the FNMT school. One of his hobbies had been to copy old banknotes
so trying to get accepted to design and engrave new ones was a logical step for
him.
In February 1966 he started working for the FNMT as an
artistic engraver. He remained with them until his retirement in 1995.
His stamp work yielded a number of international
recognitions. In 1992, he received international recognition for his engraving
of the Casa del Cordon stamp, issued in Spain in 1989. In 1994, during the
Salon de Timbres in Paris, he was awarded best prize for his pistol stamp, part
of the 1990 ironwork set issued in Spain.
Sanchez not only engraved stamps, he also engraved
banknotes. His first banknote engraving was the portrait of José Echegaray on
the 1000 pesetas banknote from the 1974 issue. One of the more unusual notes is
a trial note printed by Rasmussen, which purports to be an ‘Interpol’ banknote.
It is illustrated in the ‘Diseñadores y Grabadores’ book issued by the Spanish
Casa de la Moneda.
That same book also includes a number of beautiful
engravings of various Spanish buildings and monuments, engraved in the late
1990s, which are baffling in rich detail. The scenes are all from his native
Salamanca for which he held a high regard. Sanchez often proclaimed he was not
ashamed of his humble background and stated that that was the environment in
which his desire to draw would come to fruition. He would later donate his
engravings to the City Council of the place he was born.
Antonino Sanchez Gutierrez passed away on 9 October 2017.
Antonino Sanchez Gutierrez passed away on 9 October 2017.
REFERENCES
Book: Diseñadores y Grabadores, Museo Casa de la Moneda
2004.
Website: www.lagacetadesalamanca.es
Antonino Sanchez Gutierrez' database can be found HERE.