Árias & Francisco Tárrega
Árias’ instruments were highly prized in his day. His later labels proudly display images of the medals he won in Buenos Aires, Madrid, Brussels and Barcelona. His most famous client was the famed guitar virtuoso and composer, Francisco Tárrega. One of Tárrega’s own carte-de-visite photograph postcards clearly shows him playing an Árias guitar.
Árias died in 1914 without an apprentice or assistants to continue his business. It is his legacy to have bridged the gap between the style of guitar Torres made for Tárrega and his disciples, and the later guitars of the Ramírez families of Madrid, made famous by Andrés Segovia.