Fausto de Lima y Arias was born in Madrid in 1923, son of the linguist Antonio de Lima Conde and Maria Josefa Arias Macías. His family originated from the city of Vigo in Galicia, on the North-Western coast of Spain. The family name, not familiar in Spain, possibly derives from the river and town Lima in the Northern Portuguese province Minho, just 40 km south of Vigo. He was of noble birth and as a young man fought with the royalistst against Franco in the Spanish Civil War. After the war was over they, like all other aristocratic families, were deprived of their belongings and titles by the regime of dictator Franco.

In the Spanish capital Fausto de Lima studied at the Superior School of Fine Arts. Although he had his first personal show in Madrid (Galleria Kebos) as early as 1942, he dedicated himself to writing children’s books and working as an art critic (foreign correspondent for radio and television) for nearly two decades until around 1960. He again took up painting seriously in the late 1950s and participated in an exhibition in Palma de Mallorca (Galleria Ateneo) in 1958, where he won a price with a painting of a young woman with a sombrero, for which his wife Maria Jose Sanchez-Ocaña de los Reyes may have posed. She was the daughter, one of twelve children, of a high-ranking officer of the military junta. A year later their daughter Beatriz was born. He then ended his work as a writer and journalist altogether and for the rest of his career devoted himself solely to painting. Between 1961 and 1964 he had personal shows in galleries in Saragoza (Galleria Libros, 1961), Cordoba (Galleria Céspedes, 1962) and Madrid (Galleria Fortuni, 1962; Galleria Forum 1963, 1964).

In these years Spain was in turmoil, the political upheaval in the 1960s with frequent public protests against the repressive fascist regime of the ‘generalissimo’ Francisco Franco (1893-1975), in which his father-in-law served as a high-ranking military officer, was a source of inspiration for his paintings and perhaps also the reason to spread his wings and sell his paintings abroad. In addition, personal problems have played a role. Fausto felt caught up in a marriage arranged by families, from which it proved difficult to escape. The fact is that he alienated from his family.

It was the Galleria d’Arte ‘Arno’ in Florence, Italy, which hosted his first show outside Spain in 1964. This gallery, run by Wanda Bartolini-Papini, was to remain Fausto’s stronghold abroad for the next twenty years. Many visitors of Florence who walked through the Via della Vigna Nuova (no 73 rosso, now no longer there) and were not distracted by the fabulous Renaissance architecture of Leon Battista Alberti’s Palazzo Rucellai (1446-51) opposite the gallery, would stop at the gallery’s window and gaze at the magificent paintings by Fausto on display. Inside the art gallery one would find more of his work and, intoxicated by the smell of fresh paint, one would be puzzled by the fantastic imagery of the paintings, his use of the brush and pallet knife on fine linen canvas or rough sackcloth, his remarkable sense of colour. His usual subjects were surreal caricatures of the Church and State, but also ordinary people – torreadores, clowns and carnivalesque figures – with an often complex hidden iconography, which is another fascinating aspect of his work. Prices were very reasonable at that time and once under the spell of Fausto’s paintings it was difficult to resist the temptation of purchasing one (or more). However, Fausto de Lima did not make many paintings in Florence, where he had a room in the house of friends. Most paintings were done in his studio in Madrid, at the Calle del Marques Santillana 4, near the Parque de Berlin.

As soon as he started exhibiting abroad, Fausto had immediate success and his paintings sold well, especially to an American clientele. In August of 1967 he wrote from Tarragona, where he usually stayed during the Summer, “I am too busy to write a real letter. You can’t imagine how I am preoccupied; the orders for new paintings rain over me”. Although his work was being mainly marketed through the Galleria ‘Arno’ and – during the first years – the Galleria Biosca in Madrid, Fausto traveled to other cities to participate in shows. In 1965 he had shows in Cortina d’Ampezzo (Galleria Hausammann) and Paris (Tailleur & Fils).

The following year his work was exhibited in Milan (Galleria 32), Madrid (Galleria Fortuny), London (Portal Gallery) and again in Paris (Tailleur & Fils). In 1967 Fausto crossed the Atlantic Ocean and had personal shows in Mexico City, New York (Lord and Taylor Gallery) and Beverly Hills (LA), returning in 1969 for a show in Sarasota, Florida (F. Oehlschlager Gallery) and in 1972 for one in New York (Lord and Taylor Gallery). In 1970 he had two shows in Munich (Spanish Cultural Institute) and Hamburg (Galerie am Klosterstern).

The next years Fausto traveled to and fro between Spain and Italy, with occasional long trips further away, like a long stay in Australia in 1976/77. But by then his production had significantly decreased and the ‘Arno’ gallery was mainly trading old paintings which had been returned by customers, especially Italian. Not much was heard from Fausto de Lima since that time. He appears to have stayed in Madrid during his last years, deprived of his sources of inspiration since the death of Franco and the restoration of the Spanish monarchy in 1975, as well as the diminished role of the Catholic Church. It seems that the artist, also alienated from his family, went through a personal and artistic crisis from which he did not fully recover. The few paintings that came up for sale in auctions in Madrid since are not of the same standard as his capolavori of the 1960s and early 1970s. They often failed to sell, even at minimum prices. His old clientele had moved on, had grown old, had lost contact. But many of them continued to love the paintings they had bought once, in the good old times, Fausto’s best works, passing them on to next generations not aware of the identity of the artist who created them. The candle of Fausto’s fame burnt down and went out, silently and unnoticed. Thus only one of his paintings can be found in a public collection: the Museo de Vigo.

Fausto painted his first surreal caricatures of the Church and State already before he came to Italy. It may have been criticism in his native country and his longing for artistic freedom that made him move abroad. As a matter of fact, criticism of Franco’s regime was regarded as treason and intellectuals were either silenced by censorship or forced into exile. However, Fausto was always careful and never gave explicit titles to his paintings, just summary descriptions, leaving the interpretation to others. This aspect is one of the major charms of Fausto’s art. He created his own personal iconography, using standard symbols to criticize the worldly and ecclesiastic powers that joined hands denying individuals rights and freedoms. Unfortunately, Fausto’s intellectual message, his pictorial but silent criticism, expressed on many canvases, now scattered around the world, was not easily recognized by those who bought them. Fausto de Lima’s paintings are part of Spain’s national cultural heritage, yet he is virtually unknown, he has passed into oblivion. Now, more than 40 years after his decline and 25 years after his death Fausto de Lima’s life and work should be given fresh attention and awarded its proper place in Spanish and Italian contemporary art history. It is high time for a reappraisal.