The writer Enrique Pérez Escrich
1873. Oil on canvas.On display elsewhere
Enrique Pérez Escrich, playwright and novelist, was born in Valencia in 1829. From an early age he devoted himself entirely to his work as a writer, and he moved very soon to Madrid seeking new horizons. In the capital city he achieved his greatest literary triumphs, in some cases accompanied by important economic achievements. He cultivated other genres and particularly stood out in the genre that was at its peak in the 1860s: the serialised novel.
His portrait against a neutral background emphasises the figure of the writer. He is depicted more than half-length, turned to the right and seated in a wooden armchair, upholstered in leather, on which he rests his right hand in a dignified and undisturbed manner. Illuminated from the side, the painter emphasises the luminous white of the cuff and breastplate of the shirt, as well as the gleams produced by the wood, leather, and gold of the watch chain. This was intended to bring the focus mainly onto the expressive intensity of the face of the novelist, who approaches the viewer with a penetrating gaze.
The painting was submitted to the National Exhibition of 1897 (No. 734), the year of the writer’s death. It is to be assumed that its submission was either a posthumous tribute or deliberate opportunism to force its acquisition by the State, which indeed happened two years later.
El mundo literario en la pintura del siglo XIX del Museo del, Madrid, Centro Nacional de Exposiciones y Promoción Artística, 1994, p.206
