Nude fairies by the artist Luis Ricardo Falero, who founded the fantasy style in painting

The Spanish artist Luis Ricardo Falero is considered by many reputable art critics to be the father of the fantasy genre in the visual arts. No, fairies, elves and other fantastic creatures have been depicted before. But no one before Falero did it with such realism. Looking at many of the artist's works, it is hard to believe that they were created not in our time, but in the middle of the 19th century. 

Luis Ricardo Falero was born on May 23, 1851 in Granada, in a family of Spanish aristocrats and inherited the title of Duke of Labransano. In the artist's family, all men were traditionally military. Therefore, from early childhood Falero was accustomed to the idea that he would have a brilliant career in the navy.

But Luis Ricardo disobeyed his parents and at the age of 16 gave up his career as a naval officer. This greatly disappointed his parents, and the young man decided to leave his home. He chose Paris for his life, where he devoted himself entirely to science and art. He studied chemistry, industrial engineering and painting at the same time, achieving success in all three fields.

Luis Ricardo Falero presented his first paintings to the public in 1878. After that, the artist became a regular participant in Paris exhibitions. In 1887, Falero became disillusioned with Paris and moved to London in search of inspiration.

In the capital of England, the artist devoted himself entirely to oil painting. It was the London period of Falero's work that was the most productive. Unfortunately, fate gave the artist little time – at the age of 45, he fell seriously ill and died in University College Hospital in London.

Almost all the paintings by the Spanish artist have fantastic plots and glorify the beauty of the female body. Witches, priestesses, elves, militant Amazons, oriental beauties – all the heroines of Falero's paintings are partially or completely naked. The master managed to achieve incredible realism when depicting human bodies. Therefore, it is always hard to believe that Falero created back in the 19th century.