Santiago Arcos y Megalde

(Chilean, 1865-1912)

Absalam

Footnotes

The Chilean painter, watercolourist and illustrator Santiago Arcos y Megalde was one of the leading figures of the Spanish School in Paris during the second half of the 19th century.

Arcos's training and professional career was divided between Madrid and Paris. He was a pupil of Leon Bonnat (1833-1922) and was awarded scholarships in both London and Florence. He successfully exhibited in the Exhibition Nationale de Beaux-Arts and the Paris Salon, and cultivated the friendship of artists such as Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta (1841-1920), Joseph Saint-Germier (1860-1925) and Madeleine Lemaire (1845-1928). His patrons were as diverse as members of the Parisian aristocracy, North American collectors, and even Queen Elisabeth II of Spain.

Arcos showed remarkable versatility. An accomplished painter, draughtsman and watercolourist, he also produced set designs, illustrations and even costume designs. As a painter, his style shows a naturalistic realism characterized by loose brushwork using glazes and a subtle use of colour.

His choice of subject matter was wide ranging - he produced religious, mythological and historical paintings, as well as landscapes on small panels. These studies, produced en plein air show a luminosity suggesting the influence of Corot and the Barbizon School. The majority of his work however was portraiture and costumbrismo, the pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs. Within this genre Arcos produced Andalusian and Basque scenes as well as casacas, tender depictions of old age. His portraiture was more akin to the work of Federico de Madrazo (1815-1894). The sitters were often drawn from Parisian high society, and their costumes and jewellery were rendered in extraordinary detail.

Arcos's North African Orientalist paintings fall somewhere between the portraits and costumbrismo. In 1887, he travelled to Tangier, probably under the influence of the Catalan painter Josep Tapiró i Baró (1836-1913) who lived in Tangier and with whose work one can see distinct similarities. Consequently, the luminosity in his paintings became more intense. These Orientalist subjects and Moroccan scenes proved very popular and the artist enjoyed both public and critical acclaim. He won awards at the Paris Salon and the Exposition du Cercle Artistique et Littéraire in 1888, and his work was singled out by the critic F. Bounard: 'M. Santiago Arcos va de progrès en progrès. Ses types d'Arabes, d'Orientaux, sont saisis sur le vif. Toutes mes félicitations à cet artiste' (Le Feu Follet, 1888, p.419).

Arcos was fascinated by the bazaars and street musicians in Tangier, and he sought to capture these everyday scenes with a brightness of palette hitherto unknown in his work. His studies of Orientalist figures, whether in profile or half-length are often shown against a neutral background so the interest is focused entirely on the character depicted. The present lot is a striking example of one of these studies and the artist's ability to capture the character of the sitter.

We are grateful to José Javier Azanza López for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.