Antonio Garcia Soler (Joan Puerto)

Antonio Garcia Soler (also known as Joan Puerto) was born on the eastern coast of Spain in Alcoy, Alicante in 1957 into an artistic family. From a young age Soler pursued a career in art by attending the art school Escuela Municipal de Bellas Artes, where his father was a teacher. He continued his education at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios at the Universidad de Valencia where he earned his art degree. 

Inheriting his father’s artistic passion, Antonio Soler became mesmerised with the Mediterranean Sea, having lived close by the water for all his life. Soler has honed his realism technique over a long career, enjoying worthy praise along the way for his masterful seascapes. 

Soler aims to capture the power and movement of the ocean in his work. Using the boundless and changing effects of light on water, the artist paints dynamic scenes full of colour and movement. With inspiration close to home on the east coast of Spain, Soler can often be found along the beach sketching a taking reference photographs.

His award-winning works are featured in many individual and collective exhibits throughout Europe and the Americas and Forest Gallery are proud to showcase the artist’s breath-taking largescale original works.