LUIS ÃLVAREZ CATALÃ (Madrid, 1836 - 1901).
"A confession to his mother". Rome, 1898.
Oil on panel.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Includes, on the back, a certificate of dispatch from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Arts in Rome.
Measurements: 37 x 25 cm; 41 x 31 cm. (passpartout); 67 x 54 cm (frame).
In his genre painting, Luis Ãlvarez displayed a magnificent characterisation of both types and costumes, rendered with painstaking preciosity, which is evident in this intimate domestic scene. A young girl takes her mother's hands in hers as she brings her face close to the old woman's to whisper to her the concerns of her age.
Luis Ãlvarez began his training in Oviedo and later went to the San Fernando School in Madrid, where he was taught by Federico de Madrazo. He then went to Rome with Rosales and Palmaroli in 1857, remaining in the Italian capital until 1894, making occasional trips to Madrid. During these years he took part in various exhibitions and was awarded a medal of merit at the Florence exhibition of 1861 and a second-class medal at the National Exhibition in Madrid the following year for his historical painting "Calpurnia's Dream", which was acquired by Isabella II. In 1866 he won a second medal, and later his painting "The Chair of Philip II at El Escorial" was awarded a first-class medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1899, the National Exhibition of 1890 and the Berlin Exhibition of 1891, and was finally acquired by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Although he worked on a variety of themes, his stay in Rome inclined him mainly towards precious painting, with gallant themes of eighteenth-century atmosphere, "de casacón", which was a great success at the time with the public and art dealers. His Asturian roots also led him to apply his précieux style to the rural genre painting of that region. He was also the portraitist of the queen regent Doña María Cristina and the child king Alfonso XIII. In 1898, until his death, Luis Ãlvarez was director of the Prado Museum. In addition to several new acquisitions for the art gallery, his most important cultural activity was the celebration of the third centenary of Velázquez's birth. One of the most awarded Spanish painters of the 19th century abroad, Luis Ãlvarez Catalá was above all a romantic painter, who was inspired by historical themes in his paintings. Ãlvarez Catalá is represented in the Prado Museum, the Senate in Madrid, the Fine Arts Museums of Bilbao, Jaén and Oviedo and the University of Granada, among other public and private collections.