Jacinto Octavio Picón
1878. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
This is a bust-length portrait on a neutral background, enhanced by the white collar of his shirt. The portrayed person is almost facing the front and the face is slightly turned to the right.
Jacinto Octavio Picón (Madrid, 8th of September, 1852–Madrid, 19th of November, 1923), son of the journalist and magistrate Felipe Picón and of Octavia Bouchet –a French woman who studied Law between 1869 and 1873. He was an administrative officer in the Ministry of Overseas during the Republic. Then he was the literary correspondent for El Imparcial, moving to Paris and later to Algeria. He excelled above all in short stories and novels, for which he became famous after his first work, Lázaro (1882). This was followed by The stepdaughter of love (La hijastra del amor) (1884), Juan Vulgar (1895), The enemy (El enemigo) (1887), The honest (La honrada) (1890) and Sweet and flavourful (Dulce y sabrosa) (1891). These works earned him a reputation among the naturalist writers. He was also a fine art critic in El Correo and he joined the Royal Spanish Academy, of which he was appointed perpetual librarian in 1914. In 1902, he joined the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, with a lecture on The Nude in Art. He held republican ideals and was a member of Parliament in Madrid in 1903. In his last years, he was a vice-president of the Board of Trustees of the Museo del Prado and the secretary of the Committee of National Iconography.
