JOSÉ BENLLIURE GIL (Valencia, 1855 - 1937). Untitled. Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower right corner. Measurements: 41,5 x 52 cm; 70 x 81 cm (frame). In this group portrait, each of the costumbrista types have been connoted with individualized personalities. Psychological depth and meticulous verism characterize this work. The characters appear in the foreground, against a neutral background that highlights the figures. An old man who seems dejected, while the child sings happily, thus becoming a metaphor for life and the different stages of life. José Benlliure began his artistic studies with Francisco Domingo in Valencia, and then continued his training in Madrid, where he settled in 1869. From an early age he enjoyed the patronage of the King of Savoy and in 1879 he moved to Rome, where he was discovered by the important art dealer Martin Colnaghi, who financed his studies in the city. In 1897 he made several trips to Tangiers, Algeria and Morocco, where he approached the everyday world of the places he visited through a realistic, luminous and loose painting. From 1900 onwards his work depicts popular themes. He took part in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts, obtaining third medals in the editions of 1876 and 1878 and first in the one of 1887. He belonged to the Academies of San Fernando (Madrid), San Lucas (Rome), San Carlos (Valencia), Brera (Milan) and Munich. Between 1904 and 1912 he directed the Spanish Academy in Rome. The most important part of his production is preserved in Valencia, in his House Museum and in the Museum of Fine Arts San Pío V. He is also represented in the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Palace of Charles V in Granada, among others.