Equestrian self-portrait
Ca. 1870. Oil on panel.On display elsewhere
Ricardo Balaca is an artist situated between the fully Romantic generation and the generation of the second half of the century, the one that began its eclectic activity with the coming of age of Isabella II
It is not difficult to discern in the earliest of Balaca’s portraits, such as his Self-portrait (P004229) in bust format, the facial expression and air of intimacy so typical of the best tradition of Spanish Romanticism. The signs of eclecticism are evident in the portraits executed in the 70s, such as this equestrian self-portrait or the portrait of his wife signed and dated 1875 (Museo Lázaro Galdiano), in which the figure is portrayed in full-length. In this work, the portrait has become part of a study of nature, a real scene, as the wealthy bourgeoisie typical of the second half of the century was to be represented (Arias de Cossío in Artistas pintados. Retratos de pintores y escultores del siglo XIX en el Museo del Prado [Paintings of Artists. Portraits of 19th-century painters and sculptors in Museo del Prado], Museo del Prado, 1997, p. 96).
