Dionisio Álvarez Cueto He was born in 1964 into a working family from Bembibre, one of the historical capitals of the Bierzo region of Leon. After completing his Primary and Secondary studies in the town where he was born, he moved to Madrid where, after starting his degree in Journalism, he abandoned it (blessed decision) to dedicate himself to his true passion, drawing, enrolling in Fine Arts at the Complutense University. In November 1996 he would marry Carmen Utiel Ramírez, with whom he had two children:Carmen and Fernando.
Despite being countrymen and almost fifth, I met to Dionisio Álvarez Cueto far from León, in Madrid, and more specifically in the Puerto de Somosierra, back in October 2004, contemplating a small historical re-enactment that the Volunteers of Madrid organized about said Napoleonic battle. We both knew each other by reference for our works published in the missing and missed magazine Researching &Dragona . We immediately struck up a sincere friendship that translated into intense collaboration and joint work on many research articles on the War of Independence. As a result of it, I was able to deepen my knowledge of the art of Dionisio Álvarez Cueto, of his magic to pick up the pencil and be able, thanks to his deep knowledge of both the History and the Art of Painting (developed with the latest innovations in computer support ), to capture in wonderful images, full of life and history, a simple phrase or a few cold lines of text that a historian could provide as documentation.
His work reflects all human evolution, from Prehistory to the present, also successfully addressing caricature and portraiture. But where Dionisio Álvarez Cueto really stood out was in the Illustration of Military History , especially from the Napoleonic period, collaborating with different national and international magazines such as the aforementioned R&D or the elite French magazine Soldats Napoléoniens , as well as national newspapers such as ABC and The Country . Perhaps less well known is his incursion into the world of the Seventh Art, participating with his figurations in various film production projects such as The Carpenter's Pencil , Alatriste or The conspiracy of the Escorial . He also worked for different museums, including the National Archaeological Museum or the Regional Archaeological Museum of Alcalá de Henares. His illustrations and drawings have been collected in more than fifty books, magazines, catalogues, posters, diptychs... In addition, he would go on to create, together with Miguel Ángel Martín Mas and Carlos Quesada, the publishing house Las Cuatro Plumas, where he would publish some of his recent works, such as the delicious Madrid 1808. The Dos de Mayo recounted for everyone .
This extraordinary cartoonist made the digital palette an indispensable instrument to develop a meticulous and creative technique, which made it possible for Dionisio Álvarez Cueto to become distinguished with the qualification of “Best Spanish military illustrator of the moment” and one of the most internationally recognized, along with British masters Peter Connolly and Angus McBride.
To Dionisio Álvarez Cueto, in love with his family, his art and history, endowed with a strong personality (essential to reach the step of Art with capital letters) and, to At the same time, with sincere generosity for those who accompanied him in his passage through this life, the Grim Reaper, blind and selfish, snatched him from us almost four years ago to the indelible pain of his own, sadness of all of us who admire him, disconsolation of the Muse of History whom he honored so many times, and deep gratitude for his life and his work (which will always survive through his family and his illustrations) from all of us who were able to meet him.
