Raimundo de Madrazo y Garretta

(Spanish, 1841-1920)

Portrait of a Lady

Footnotes

Provenance
Anon. sale, Subastas Castellana, Madrid, 18, 19 & 20 December 2001, lot 127.
Private Collection, Valencia (acquired from the above) .

Exhibited
Toledo, Pintura española del siglo XIX, Obra Social y Cultural Caja de Ahorros de Castilla La Mancha, 2003 (illustrated in colour in the exhibition catalogue p. 77).

Roman-born Raimundo de Madrazo y Garretta was from a distinguished family of artists. His Grandfather, Jose de Madrazo, was primarily a neoclassical painter and became Director of the Museo del Prado in 1838 and was named Director of the San Fernando Academy in 1823. Madrazo's other Grandfather (on his maternal side) was a painter from Poland called Tadeusz Kuntze. Madrazo's uncles – Luis, Pedro and Juan - were respectively a painter, art critic and architect. His father, Federico de Madrazo, was a celebrated artist who focused on portraiture in Paris with Franz Xaver Winterhalter, and was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1846. Madrazo's brother Ricardo was also an artist, specialising in Orientalist subjects, while sister Cecilia, married the painter Marià Fortuny. Indeed, Raimundo spent time working in Fortuny's studio in Rome.

Unsurprisingly, the young Madrazo was first taught to paint by his father and grandfather; he later attended Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, where he studied alongside Carlos de Haes. He settled for a time in Madrid, then moved to Paris in 1862, where he largely remained - although he fled to Granada during the Franco-Prussian War.

By 1881, when the present lot was painted, Madrazo was well established; in 1878, he had won the first-class medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris (contemporary reviews made special mention of Madrazo's 'brilliant colour' and 'triumph of light') and he was elected to the French Academy. In 1879 he painted a large oil on panel (224 x 96.5cm) depicting his friend and renowned art collector Ramón de Errazu. Errazu later bequeathed 25 works - including Madrazo's portrait and masterpieces by Fortuny - to the Museo del Prado. In 1882, alongside Giuseppe de Nittis, Alfred Stevens and the gallery owner Georges Petit, Madrazo co-founded the Exposition Internationale de Peinture, designed to promote foreign artists in Paris.

Although the sitter of the present lot is unknown, her stylish depiction is an impressive example of Madrazo's skill and technique – and evidence of why he was so highly sought after for commissions. Notably, his patrons included the Vanderbilt family, Alexander Turney Stewart, John Pierpont Morgan, Andrew Rolland Peacock (vice president of Carnegie Steel Company) and Samuel P Avery - a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1872 – 1904.

The lady is gracefully seated with her left arm resting on a cushion, holding a fan and looking to her right. Her hair is elegantly pulled up, with a feathered accessory holding it in place. The elaborate dress is a plethora of surface textures, and Madrazo has expertly captured the nuances of lace, satin and embroidery through his precise brushwork. The pastel colour palette is soft and evokes the Rococo period, while a soft light source not only highlights the glow of her skin but further adds to the realism by creating a reflection of her pink gown in the polished floor. Like his father, Madrazo places an equal focus on the background: the voluminous blue curtains are held back to reveal an intricate guilt mirror and gold wall panelling; a lace shawl has been draped over a Louis XV-XVI style sofa, the cover embroidered with colourful flowers and cherub.

The beauty celebrated in the present lot is not surprising when considered in the light of the works Madrazo revered in his own art collection; reportedly paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Jean-August-Dominique Ingres and Jean-Antoine Watteau, as well as Grecian pottery and antique bronzes.

The present lot was recorded to have been in an auction in the UK in the artist's archives - lot 93 - and illustrated in the catalogue, although the date of the sale is unknown.