Famous for his imaginative and unique paintings and graphics, Federico Castellon was born in Almeria, Spain, in 1914. Prior to his death in 1971, he received many awards and prizes, including two Guggenheim fellowships, a fellowship from the Spanish Republic, a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Eyre Medal (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia) and Logan Prize (Art Institute of Chicago).

The artist taught at Columbia University, New York; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn; and the New School for Social Research, New York. His work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia and Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., as well as many other museums. In 1978, Dean August Freundlich wrote the catalog raisonne of his works, FEDERICO CASTELLON: HIS GRAPHIC WORKS (Syracuse University).