PORTRAIT OF GOYA - EUGENIO LUCAS VELÁZQUEZ, 19TH CENTURY – SPAIN

Descriptio We thank Doctor Arturo Anson for the identification of the present painting. Provenance: Private collection – Good condition considering its age and use – Overall dimensions: 165 x 130 cm – Dimensions without frame: 130 x 96 cm. Exceptional large-format oil on canvas, “Portrait of Goya,” attributed to Eugenio Lucas Velázquez (1817-1870). This work is a reinterpretation of the portrait of Francisco de Goya painted in 1826 by Vicente López Portaña (Valencia, 1772 – Madrid, 1850), a Neoclassical painter and portraitist of the elite (Prado Museum). The sitter is depicted seated in an armchair, gazing directly at the viewer in a benevolent and contemplative pose, holding a paintbrush in his left hand. He wears a frock coat in a gray-green hue, a waistcoat, and a jabot. Eugenio Lucas Velázquez executed the portrait with great freedom and fluid brushwork, departing from the meticulous academic finish characteristic of Neoclassicism. The technique is energetic, lending the face strength, vitality, and frankness. Against a tormented background that evokes Goya’s complex and profound personality, the painter crystallizes all the subject’s strength and personality in the gaze directed at the viewer, granting absolute prominence to the psychological portrait. The treatment of the color palette used, in contrast to the deep pictorial background, contributes, in its creative execution, to an exercise in creating atmosphere and artistic sensitivity. He uses a limited color palette of ochres and deep blacks for the background. Eugenio Lucas Velázquez (Madrid, 1817-1870) began his career as a cabinetmaker, eventually becoming the appraiser of Goya’s Black Paintings. He trained at the Royal Academy of San Fernando. He spent much of his time copying works by Velázquez and Goya at the Prado Museum. Madrazo was his great teacher. In 1852, he traveled to Paris, where he was greatly influenced by the French painter Delacroix. In 1855, his work was exhibited at the Universal Exposition in Paris. In 1850, he was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the Royal Theatre, and Queen Isabella II appointed him Honorary Court Painter. In 1860, he traveled through countries such as France, Switzerland, and Italy, absorbing the significant influence of European Romanticism at that time.

Estimation:€120,000

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