Interview with the painter and mountain guide Ricardo Montoro

From Tramacastilla de Tena a truly unique artist arrived at the Hotel Sauce. One of those lucky ones who has managed to unite two of his passions and make them his profession. Our guest in this edition of Interviews is a lover of the mountains and a renowned painter in Europe.

He visited Saragossa to present the collection that he exhibits and sells in the Marisa Cervantes room. A collection of alpine-themed watercolors that perfectly represent the artist’s unmistakable style. We were fortunate to meet him in person and chat with him about the mountains, art, the city of Zaragoza or hotels. We are pleased to introduce you to Ricardo Montoro.

The Pyrenees is a “modest” but lively mountain range. Some mountains that have personality.

Two of his passions are reflected in his work: painting and high mountains. Do you feel lucky to have made both your profession?

What were you before, mountain guide or painter?

First I was a painter, although since I was little I practiced climbing and skiing.

Do you paint on the mountain itself or in your studio? Do you use photography as a basis for your paintings?

I paint in the studio, but I get my ideas in the mountains, when I accompany my clients as a guide or when I go with my friends. I usually take a lot of photographs and I am guided by them later in the studio.

His pictorial style is very recognizable, full of dynamism, with simple and precise strokes… What are his references?
I have no predetermined references, my life is the mountains, I spend almost all of it in nature and I pay little attention to styles or currents. I live in a world a little outside of what art is, in the city or trends. I am very self-taught and the dynamism, movement and colors come from the days I spend out there, skiing, climbing. The ice, the wind, the skies, the snow and the people I see are my references.

Most of his works that we have been able to see are watercolors. Is that a particularly appropriate technique for his style?
Watercolor gives me that force that movement requires, it moves more than acrylic or oil, it is alive on the paper and that is important to me, that it moves. Although retouching or repairing it is practically impossible, if you let it act together with water, it has no limits. I accompany it with ink that gives a somewhat more intense character to the paintings.

The Pyrenees are a regular destination for many Saragossa residents on vacation, but some limit themselves to sliding down the slopes. As a mountain guide, what else does the Pyrenees have to offer visitors and mountaineers?

The Pyrenees is a “modest” but lively mountain range. Mountains that have personality, where we can still find solitary corners and very authentic towns, where in the Pyrenees or sports aspect we still have a lot to explore, with climbing routes to open and daring ski itineraries. The Pyrenees is… a treasure, an open secret.

Currently exhibiting in the Marisa Cervantes room in Saragossa. How do you see the sector of exhibition halls and art galleries in our city?

The truth is that I am not very “placed” in the world of galleries in Spain. Yes, I am in Italy or France where through them I have exhibited in Art Fairs and individual and group exhibitions, perhaps because in those Alpine countries my painting is more “commercial”. Now here I am entering and through Marisa who is helping me a lot in that sense, because I have discovered a new world here in Saragossa and I really like it. The city has a hook or it has hooked me. A few years ago (a few) I barely knew her, despite living relatively close, and having many friends here.

You have undoubtedly traveled a lot exhibiting her work, we know that it is highly appreciated in Italy. What is the strangest thing that has happened to you in a hotel?

The strangest thing, ugh, I have traveled with ski and mountain clients and various anecdotes have happened to me, but the most exciting thing was in Chamonix, the alpine city par excellence, the capital of world mountaineering. I exhibited in a hotel there and on the opening day they invited artists, collectors and above all the renowned guides and skiers that I had always admired. Seeing myself there saying a few words to those people makes me very emotional.

It was really exciting, I always wanted to be part of that city, I dreamed of exhibiting there, of not simply passing through its mountains, but of belonging in a certain way to its life, to its people. Things changed me a lot, even today when I think about that day, the emotion returns.

What absurd object cannot be missing in your suitcase?

Absurd, I don’t know, but I have to carry something with which I can take photos of the places I go, be it a camera or cell phone. If I leave both I feel terrible, because I function with a photographic eye.

In Saragossa I don’t stop using my cell phone, and my friends are surprised. They pass through those streets every day, but I don’t know, every time I go down I see something different, a facade, a store, a musician on the street. And I watch and watch people, but only out of curiosity.

Do you have any projects to tell us about? What are you working on right now?

For many, my head is always spinning and I am always involved in things, whether they are mountain or painting, the most important thing now is the exhibition at Marisa Cervantes and then a ski trip to the fjords of Norway, with the sea as background. There I will get ideas and lights, in that country the lights are… different.

And then spring, I’m looking forward to rock climbing in the sun again.

Add that I am delighted to discover your hotel, I feel very good, it is located very well and I don’t know it’s as if I had the “strange” experience for me of living in a city, I love the atmosphere of the Sauce hotel! !!