This emblematic picture is undoubtedly the best-known work on a social theme produced by Sorolla in his youth. It is also an especially good example of how fully the artist became involved in a genre which, at the time, was of particular relevance in Madrid’s official artistic circles, where Sorolla was determined to receive his first public recognition. The depth of its meaning is probably indica
In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a significant number of Spanish writers and artists viewed themselves as heirs to the rich heritage of the Golden Age realist tradition, particularly the work of Miguel de Cervantes and Diego Velázquez. Their interpretation and imitation of those models lent nineteenth-century Spanish naturalism its particular character within the larger contex
A front view of a girl with a tambourine in her left hand. She holds a doll with her right arm. In keeping with his interest in children´s portraits, Pinazo captures a very familiar atmosphere here, making a very intimate portrait. The color scheme tends toward greys and blues, avoiding the brownish tones so frequent in many of his child portraits. This work is notable for various aspects that den
Obsessed by his own image, Pinazo made many self-portraits. Here, the intense light streaming in from the left outlines his face with a marked chiaroscuro, heightened by the shadow cast by the hat. The use of a range of browns, and the highly naturalistic treatment of light reveal the influence of the masters of the Spanish Golden Age.
Following his arrival in Paris in 1894, Anglada-Camarasa became extremely interested in the city’s nightlife. The interior of this café-concert, one of the many to be found in the capital, is seen without the audience or the performers, allowing the artist to focus on the effects of the artificial lights that produce a wide range of reflections and colours.
Entre los numerosos retratos que realizó Menéndez Pidal se cuentan unos pocos autorretratos. En sentido estricto son solamente dos: uno, realizado en 1895 (colección particular, Madrid) y éste del Prado pintado en 1907, igualmente sobrio y más directo y franco de factura. Este autorretrato, de gran franqueza expresiva por su composición frontal, muestra al artista en su plenitud, el mismo año en q
In 1861 the Galician painter Avendaño was jointly awarded the State travel grant for landscape painting, together with Martín Rico. In the last third of the century he thus lived and worked in Genoa and Liguria. Avendaño favoured a type of naturalistic landscape with a misty, damp atmosphere. He habitually paid close attention to detail in both the background, which here depic
Fillol presents an uncompromising image of female prostitution that denounces human exploitation and the personal degradation of the victim. Although critics recognised the painting’s audacity and praised its naturalism, the academic prize awarded to Fillol – the second medal at the 1897 National Exhibition – was not accompanied by any financial reward, and the work was indeed not bought until 191
Desnudo de mujer es uno de los desnudos más atrevidos y eróticos que realizó el artista. La mujer aparece tendida, con las piernas hacia el espectador y los brazos detrás de la cabeza. La imagen frontal de los desnudos recostados, que tenía su más claro exponente en la obra de Goya, ha sido llevada hacia un atrevido escorzo que coloca el sexo en el primer plano de la composición; una posición carg
This is a cartoon for a tapestry to be hung over a window, with the figure of a Majo playing the guitar and a background of landscape with three other people. The resulting tapestry was intended for the entry to the bedroom of the Prince and Princess of Asturias (the future Carlos IV and his wife, Maria Luisa de Parma) at the El Pardo Palace in Madrid. Goya's activity as a painter of tapestry cart
In 1895, Elena Brockmann, a painter from Madrid who had studied first at the Academy of San Fernando and later under Joaquín Sorolla in Rome, became the first Spanish woman to submit a history painting to a National Exhibition. Three years earlier she had presented this costumbrista painting, in which a large number of figures are shown in a space with marked perspective. Her ambitious comp
Reproducción de un retrato pintado hacia 1740-45. La dama representada guarda cierto parecido con Luisa Isabel de Borbón (1727-1759), hija de Luis XV y María Leszczynska, esposa del infante Felipe de Borbón, duque de Parma (1720-1765). A mediados del siglo XVIII, el retrato miniatura se pintaba sobre vitela o marfil y rara vez se optó por pintar al óleo sobre naipes o chapas de cobre; es excepcion
Gaspar Sensi Baldachi, litógrafo y pintor de origen italiano, discípulo de Tomasso Minardi cuando contaba más de treinta años de edad se trasladó a Madrid y en esta ciudad estableció su residencia principal hasta su muerte. En este retrato, obra de Federico de Madrazo, está más presente la voluntad de hacer un estudio de cabeza que el interés por captar la psicología del personaje. No obstante res
Although the ‘Moyano Law’ of 1857 established equal rights to education, schooling remained differentiated by sexes throughout the nineteenth century, and girls continued to have separate classes where they were taught the duties "proper to their sex". Representations of these schools, with anecdotal scenes like Muñoz Lucena’s, were recurrent at the National Exhibitions, where the State acq
A tapestry cartoon with two chained dogs, two shotguns, a powder horn, and other hunting implements on a small hill, with a landscape in the background. The resulting tapestry was intended to hang over one of the doors of the dining room of the Prince and Princess of Asturias (the future Carlos IV and his wife, Maria Luis de Parma) at the Monastery of El Escorial. It´s intended location expl
The academic culture of nineteenth-century Spain introduced the concept of decency to the representation of the female nude. During the Restoration, there was a proliferation of images of women obliged for financial reasons to pose nude for artists, who in return deliberately concealed their faces to preserve their dignity. In this work, the model hide their nudity with dramatic gesture. The dejec
Taking its cue from serialised fiction, the work narrates the return to her father’s home of a girl and her daughter, the fruit of an extra-marital relationship. Kneeling, she implores clemency from her father, whose anger is placated by a priest who reminds him of the duty to forgive. The emotional strength of the painting won it an award at the 1895 National Exhibition, whose jury chose to ignor
In a Symbolist vein, this work proclaims the perfect end for a Christian girl whose virginity is rewarded in her last dream with a lily of purity laid by an angel on her breast. In a language indebted to Pre-Raphaelite painting, Villegas Brieva fashions a transcendent icon that condenses the ideological pressure exerted on women by the nineteenth century concept of feminine virtue.