Hernando Viñes (Paris, 1904 – 1993) was born into a family of Catalan and Guatemalan ancestry. Through his uncle, the renowned pianist Ricardo Viñes, he met Maurice Ravel, Manuel de Falla, and Joaquín Rodrigo. At the behest of Picasso, a friend of his father’s, he began his artistic training along with Maurice Denis, André Lhote, and Gino Severini.

His 1921 – 1925 still lifes, landscapes, and religious characters display Cubist influences. In 1923, together with Hermenegildo Lanz and Manuel Ángeles Ortiz, Viñes worked on the stage and costume design for El retablo del Maese Pedro [Master Peter’s Puppet Show]. Christian Zervos and Tériade, critics at Cahiers d’Art magazine, were among his supporters. Beginning in 1926 he became interested in Surrealism and, accompanied by Ángeles Ortiz, he introduced himself into the circles of the Paris School. In the early 1930s Viñes rediscovered Fauvism and Pierre Bonnard, with whose work he identified for its intimate and sensual nature.

After the World War II, Hernando Viñes distanced himself from paining. In 1965 he returned to Spain and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid hosted a retrospective dedicated to the artist. From then on, he regularly exhibited his work at galleries in Madrid, Barcelona, and Santander.