Julio Romero de Torres and The Alluring Young Girl

'The Alluring Young Girl' (1930) by Julio Romero de Torres; Museo Julio Romero de Torres, Córdoba

Finally I get to post one of my favourite paintings. The English title 'The Alluring Young Girl' of this painting by Julio Romero de Torres, born on November 9, 1874, and died on May 10, 1930, sounds strange to me because I know this painting by its Spanish title 'La Chiquita Piconera'. In Dutch, it's known as 'De Kleine Kolenbrandster' (which means 'The Little Coal Girl') and this is a much more faithful translation of the Spanish title. 'Picón' in Spanish means 'fine coal'. The website of the Museum Julio Romero de Torres actually names the painting 'The Little Coal Girl'. I had found an image of this painting a long time ago in a book on art and architecture in Andalucía. So when I travelled through Andalucía in 2002, I had to see this painting in real life. It didn't disappoint. It is beautiful and captivating and though I like the other paintings by Romero de Torres too, I wandered through the museum and kept coming back to this one numerous times. It's both his most famous painting (it had actually adorned a postage stamp of 5 pesetas) and his last one. In 1930, while travelling abroad, the artist fell ill and returned to Córdoba to recover. Here he painted 'La Chiquita Piconera', a few months before he died at the age of 55. The girl who modelled for this painting was María Teresa López. She became the artist's muse at a young age and modelled for him for many years, culminating in 'La Chiquita Piconera' (she was 16 years at the time of this painting). María and Romero de Torres were never lovers, even though he had tried to seduce her. After a bad marriage of two years, she never got married again and said that men only wanted her because of the fame she had acquired with posing for Romero de Torres. If you are interested in reading about the woman behind the painting and you read Spanish, click here. The image of the young girl in the painting is realistic as well as idealised. With her typical Andalucían features she exemplifies the sexuality of the Andalucían woman. Wearing silk stockings, she's stirring the embers in a copper brazier. She's looking straight at the spectator and her serious gaze might reflect the feelings and fears of the painter whose death was near. Through a window, we see a dark sunset on the river Guadalquivir as if the painter wanted to establish a parallelism with the end of his life. This painting holds all the key elements to the art of Romero de Torres: Córdoba wrapped in fogs, always distant and close; beauty as an ideal, reflected in women; a mixture of burning and coldness; sweetness and disappointment; archaism and modernity; nostalgia and presence.

Cornelis de Vos and Two Sisters

'Two Sisters' (c.1615) by Cornelis de Vos; Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki

Most of the paintings by the Flemish painter Cornelis de Vos, born in 1584 and died on 9 May 1651, I don't really like, but the one shown here today gets more beautiful and captivating the longer you look at it. I think it's captivating because the girls do look alike, like sisters, but at the same time have different faces. You look at them and you can even decide which of the two you find prettier (I think I find the girl on the right prettier). Vos worked closely with the famous painter Peter Paul Rubens although his style is more similar to Anthony van Dyck than Rubens. He was a portrait painter in Antwerp society and of family groups and among his best works are the paintings of children. It is in his close observation of character that his portraits resemble those of Van Dyck. I love today's portrait! It's rich in detail. Look at the fine and dramatic lace collars and notice the shadows under the eyes of the girl on the right. 

John Seymour Lucas and The Interval

'The Interval' (1905) by John Seymour Lucas; no location found

Today I struggled again with finding a painter and painting that I like. I chose English artist John Seymour Lucas, born on 21 December 1849 and died on 8 May 1923. I couldn't find many paintings by this artist that I liked but this painting immediately stood out. Simply because of the colours and the intimate scene. Lucas was trained as a woodcarver but soon learned to paint. His father tutored him first and then he started to study at St. Martin's Lane Art School and the Royal Academy Schools. He worked for the most part in London but also travelled to Spain where he studied the techniques of the Spanish masters. I couldn't find much information on the painting shown here, not even its location. There is some mention of it being put up for auction so it is very likely that it is in private hands.

Caspar David Friedrich and Easter Morning

'Easter Morning' (1833) by Caspar David Friedrich;
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

It must be evident just by scrolling down the pages of my blog that I prefer portraits over landscapes and still lifes. But I love the work of the German landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich, born on September 5, 1774, and died on May 7, 1840. I do like his paintings of landscapes with solitary figures in them better than the paintings of just landscapes but even the latter ones are stunning. His landscapes are desolate and seem to tell a story. I have been to Die Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin some years ago and they have a room dedicated to Friedrich. Upon entering it, you get immediately drawn in by the light in his dark paintings. In 2008, I saw a small Friedrich exhibition in the Hermitage, Amsterdam, and I experienced the same. Friedrich was one of the greatest Romantic painters of the symbolic landscape. He studied in Copenhagen and settled in Dresden afterwards. His paintings are beautiful observations of nature based entirely on landscapes in northern Germany. He used people in his paintings to emphasize nature's vastness and they appear with their backs to the viewer, lost in contemplation. He also wanted to show man at the mercy of the elements. It could be that his dark paintings reflect a tragedy from his childhood. When he was 13 years old, he fell through the surface of a frozen lake and was almost killed. His brother drowned in the effort to save his life. 

'When Apples were Golden and Songs were Sweet' by John Melhuish Strudwick

'When Apples were Golden and Songs were Sweet' (c.1906) by John Melhuish
Strudwick; Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester

Today I discovered another Pre-Raphaelite painter unknown to me, John Melhuish Strudwick, born on 6 May 1849. In the 1870s, he worked as a studio assistant to Edward Burne-Jones and this is reflected in his art style. His paintings are a mixture of Renaissance and medieval styles and show precise attention to detail, especially in his treatment of fabrics and accessories. His use of deep colours is inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites and Burne-Jones. Some of his paintings wear beautiful poetic titles like 'Thy Music, faintly falling, dies away, Thy dear eyes dream that Love will live for aye', or like the full title of today's painting 'When Apples were Golden and Songs were Sweet, but Summer had Passed Away'.

Charles Robert Leslie and Dulcinea del Toboso

'Dulcinea del Toboso' (1839) by Charles Robert Leslie;
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

I couldn't find a nice painter for today so I'm going to cheat a little bit. Because I have already done a post on Charles Robert Leslie, born on 19 October 1794 and died on 5 May 1859. Actually, it was not a post on the English painter himself, but a post on a historical event that was portrayed by Leslie. So I'm not cheating completely here. Fortunately, there is enough of Leslie's work to choose from for another post. The title of the painting I chose, 'Dulcinea del Toboso', comes from Cervantes' comic novel 'Don Quixote' (1605). Dulcinea is a fictional character in the novel, although she's only referred to but doesn't appear in the story. The aristocratic name of Dulcinea del Toboso was given by Don Quixote to a pretty peasant woman. She was unaware that he had fantasies about her. If you want to know more about her character, click on the link or consult the internet.

Thomas Wilmer Dewing and Lady with a Lute

'Lady with a Lute' (1886) by Thomas Dewing; National Gallery of Art,
Washington D.C.

I had never heard of American painter Thomas Dewing, born on the 4th of May, 1851. When you google the images of his paintings, you see this lovely palette of pastels and muted darker colours. The paintings have a dream-like quality. Then I looked up his biography and it is for these elegant depictions of women, set in poetic landscapes and sparse interiors, that Dewing is best known. With painters unknown to me, I never know whether they were great painters known to a larger public, just not to me. Apparently, Dewing was one of the most important artists of the American turn-of-the-century Gilded Age. I just read on his Wikipedia page that he is best known for his Tonalist paintings, paintings that were characterised by an overall tone of coloured atmosphere and dark, neutral hues. I could have chosen many paintings for today, because I liked more than one. I chose this painting of a woman with a lute because I think it's beautiful in composition and colour.

William Frederick Yeames and Visit to the Haunted Chamber

'Visit to the haunted chamber' (1869) by William Frederick Yeames;
Private Collection

One thing immediately becomes clear when you google the paintings of English artist William Frederick Yeames, born on 18 December 1835 and died on 3 May 1918. His paintings tell a little story. When I looked up his page on Wikipedia, I read that the group of artists known as St John's Wood Clique, of which Yeames was a member, concentrated 'on subjects of a historical nature and narrative paintings in which the story was revealed by close study of the actions and expressions of the subjects'. Yeames took this even further and worked in the genre known as Problem Picture. This is a genre in the late Victorian era that was characterised by a narrative that could be interpreted in different ways and often represented an unresolved dilemma. I love today's painting because of the colours and the depicted scene. The two women seem to be brave and a little frightened at the same time. I couldn't find anything on the story of the painting but just look at all the details and make up your own story!

Evelyn De Morgan and The Prisoner

'The Prisoner' (1907) by Evelyn De Morgan; De Morgan Centre, London

I like discovering Pre-Raphaelite painters unknown to me and so far I hadn't come across a female one. But today I discovered Evelyn De Morgan, born on 30 August 1855 and died on 2 May 1919. De Morgan was part of the circle of Pre-Raphaelites that included Edward Burne-Jones and it is evident that she was influenced by his work. But in addition to the themes and subjects that the Pre-Raphaelites are known for, De Morgan focused more on allegorical and symbolic themes and subjects. The painting shown here of a woman imprisoned, is a sharp commentary on the position of women during the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Jules Breton and End of the Working Day

'End of the working day' (1887) by Jules Breton; Brooklyn Museum, New York

I've grown to like Realist painters who depict scenes of work in the fields and the hardships of everyday life. The French painter Jules Breton, born on the 1st of May, 1827, is one of them. Breton left the village Courrières, where he was born, to study art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent and later on at the École des Beaux Arts. At first he painted historical subjects in the traditional academic style, but then his style evolved and he tried other subjects. He painted scenes reminiscent of his childhood in Courrières. These scenes from the peasant lifestyle and work ethic brought him fame. In today's painting you see three women at the end of a hard working day. I think it's a very strong image. You almost feel the air getting cooler now the sun has set and you feel yourself looking in the same direction as the woman in the middle, wondering if there is anything more to be done. With this painting Breton expressed his appreciation for pastoral beauty and he gives his peasant women almost a heroic and noble standing against their lower working class standing.