Oil, luminous paint, zircon, silver corundum, crystal powder, cardboard, iron, polyurethane and polyester on canvas
Spain, 2012
Antonio Alonso Martinez (b. 1963) - also known as ‘Martinez the Killer’, Portuguese-Spanish painter who prefers provocative political subjects
Verso titled, double signed and dated ‘Jan Pawel II. Martinez. 2012‘
With certificate of authenticity from the artist
Total dimensions: 130 x 60 cm
Very good condition
Provenance: Private Collection Spain
Impressive portrait of Pope John Paul II in the typical provocative and satirical nature of Martinez and in highly complex design in a variety of materials; Martinez's paintings fetch up to 150,000 euros at international auctions

The painting presented here, executed in mixed media, was created by the Portuguese-Spanish painter Antonio Alonso Martinez in 2012. The artist, also known as ‘Martinez the Killer’ deals in his paintings principally with politically provocative but also morbid themes. These include portraits of famous personalities who often died a tragic death (if they are not still alive). This quite extraordinary image shows a portrait of Pope John Paul II. In a variety of materials such as luminous paint, zircon, silver corundum and crystal powder, which are applied in collage technique and thereby create a three-dimensional impression, Martinez creates a characteristic ironic work that actually does not match a representative portrait of a pope.



The painting is verso titled, double signed and dated ‘Jan Pawel II. Martinez. 2012‘ and is in very good condition. It is mounted in a black frame with the total dimensions of 130 x 60 cm.



Antonio Alonso Martinez (born 1963)

Martinez was born in Portugal in 1963 to Spanish parents and studied painting in Lisbon. Martinez’s best friend was murdered before his eyes at the age of eighteen. This shocking experience deeply marked him and is one reason why his portraits often deal with mortality. Since 2011, the artist has been living in Spain. The same year, one of his portraits of Kurt Cobain fetched a sensational result at the Dorotheum in Vienna. Another portrait of Cobain was successfully auctioned at Christie’s in London in 2012.

Due to the legal obligation for the resale royalty in the art market the following applies: As a result of its membership in the AV Kunst, Auctionata charges additionally to the hammer price the contribution to the AV Kunst of currently 2.1% of the revenues from the sale of fine arts and photographs pro rata towards the buyer. More information about royalty right in our T&C.