Born into a very humble family, Manuel Abelenda began his career as a craftsman before turning his attention to painting. He trained at the School of Arts and Crafts in his native town, where he soon stood out and won modest prizes of the time. Around this time he obtained a pension from the Provincial Council which enabled him to move to Madrid, where he attended classes at the Círculo de Bellas Artes.

In Madrid his teacher was Antonio Muñoz Degrain, from whom he drew the essential foundations for his work, which included landscapes with a marked personality in which the influence of the master blended with his own Galician contribution. From Muñoz Degrain he learned the procedure of accentuating the dept...