For decades the Hotel - Alcázar Palace was the home of the famous American painter and bullfighter John Fulton, who fell in love with this exceptional place. Fulton was the first American to reach the highest rank in bullfighting, as “matador de toros” in the Maestranza Bullring in Seville as well as in Las Ventas of Madrid, two of the most important bullrings in the world. Fulton fell in love with Spain and bullfighting in his native Philadelphia at the age of 12, after watching the movie Blood and Sand starring Rita Hayworth and Tyrone Power as a failed bullfighter. However he did not see his first bullfight until the age of twenty.
While his rise to the level of matador was impressive and it earned him a cult following in the U.S. and Spain, he was perhaps better known and more accomplished as an artist. Fulton was famous for his paintings of scenes of bullfights, but his other works should not be overlooked. Fulton also painted scenes typical of his adopted home of Seville: Holy Week, the Feria de Abril, the Cathedral as well as common scenes of everyday life. In Seville Fulton met many famous artists and celebrities who influenced his life’s work. In Most Fulton’s paintings were done in the studio in his home, now the site of the Hotel Palacio Alcazar. 1998 at the age of 65, Fulton passed away in Seville.
For more information about John Fulton, we invite you to visit the web page for the John Fulton Society.
