Bullfight

1867 - 1868. Oil on canvas.
Not on display

The sketch, almost schematic character of this composition makes this one of the most attractive bullfighting scenes ever painted by Fortuny. It offers a panoramic view of a bullring -probably in Madrid- in which the powerful contrast of light between the part in the sun and the part in the shade is outstanding. The painter treats the hustle and bustle of the spectators as an undefined mass, with multiple patches of black and small touches of ochre, showing his preference for the most colorful aspect of the spectacle and eschewing its more dramatic intensity. This work was donated by the widow of Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo to the now-defunct Museum of Modern Art in 1951.

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Inventory number: P004328
Author: Mariano Fortuny
Title: Bullfight
Date: 1867 - 1868
Technique: Oil
Support: Canvas
Dimension: Height: 30.3 cm; Width: 46.2 cm
Provenance: Mariano Fortuny y Marsal, Rome, 1874; heirs of the painter, Venice and Paris, until 1949; donated by Henriette Nigrin, widow of Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, to the Museo de Arte Moderno, 1951; Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, 1968-1971
Entry date: 1971

Bibliography +

Ainaud de Lasarte, Josep M., Mariano Fortuny, Comisaría Nacional de Museos y Exposiciones Junta de Museos de Barcelona, Barcelona, 1974.

De la Puente, Joaquín, Casón del Buen Retiro. Catálogo de las pinturas del siglo XIX, Ministerio de Cultura, Madrid, 1985, pp. 82.

De Greco à Picasso, Ministerio de Cultura, Madrid, 1987, pp. 378.

Czymmek, Götz, Landschaft Im Licht. Impressionische Malerei in Europa Und N, WallrafRichartzMuseum Köln, Colonia, 1990.

El Toro y el Mediterraneo, Caja Duero, Palma De Mallorca, 2001.

Doñate Font, Mercé, Fortuny (1838-1874), MNAC, Barcelona, 2003, pp. 170.

Torres González, Begoña, Fortuny: un mundo en miniatura, Libsa, Madrid, 2008, pp. 334.

Taurus: del mito al ritual, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2010, pp. 320.

Díez, José Luis (dir.), Pintura del Siglo XIX en el Museo del Prado: catálogo general, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2015, pp. 192.

Gutiérrez Márquez, Ana, Cecilia de Madrazo: Luz y memoria de Mariano Fortuny., Museo Nacional del Prado. Fundación María Cristina Masaveu, Madrid, 2017, pp. 133.

Martínez Plaza, Pedro José, 'Mariano Fortuny y Marsal. Corrida de toros', En: Fortuny (1838-1874), Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2017, pp. 166-167 n.33.