Satyr and nymphs / Portrait of a lady
1924. Oil on cardboard.On display elsewhere
Sketch of the painting Satyr and nymphs or Faun surprising some nymphs (private collection). On the back, Portrait of a Woman. At the time when Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor are thought to have been painted, around 1924, the artist was director of the Museo del Prado (a position he held from 1922 to 1931 and 1939 to 1960), employing an academic style which brought him success among the social elites for precisely the two genres united here: portraiture and mythological painting. Possibly as a result of the decision of the artist’s heirs, who donated this work and others to the Museo de Arte Moderno in 1962, the principal image is the satyr, which in a period long after the work was created must have seemed more appealing and modern due to its sketchy technique and palette, even though the portrait is more finished.
