Mister Frasquito

There is mystery and mystique around the relocation of British artist Frank Hind to Granada, Spain in 1905 and his change of name to Francis Wallis-Markland—a curious story that adds to the other-worldly quality of his Symbolist inspired pastel renderings of Granada's gardens.

Having established a career as a artist in Victorian England, exhibiting at the innovative pastel exhibitions held at the Grosvenor Gallery in the 1880s, Hind's move to Granda saw him absorb the influence of leading Spanish artists of the moment. Now known as Francis Wallis-Markland, or indeed 'Mister Frasquito', he became good friends with the José María Rodríguez Acosta and collaborated with one of the leaders of the Catalan Modernisme movement, Santiago Rusiñol. One such collaboration, full of poetic and enigmatic atmosphere and signed by both artists is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Granada.