228 - JOAQUIN ARAUJO Y RUANO (Ciudad Real, 1851 - Madrid, 1894).

JOAQUIN ARAUJO Y RUANO (Ciudad Real, 1851 - Madrid, 1894). "Early times of Murillo". Ink on paper. Signed in the lower right corner. Measurements: 10 x 13,5 cm; 30 x 32,5 cm (frame). The artist from La Mancha worked as a copyist at the Prado Museum. From then until shortly before his death, Araujo was a frequent visitor to the Museum, copying especially Velázquez, Goya, Titian, and Van Dyck. Like many other artists, he decided to go to Rome to complete his training there. In 1880, after a stay in France, the painter began to participate fully in the artistic and cultural life of the time. He became a member of the Círculo de Bellas Artes and attended the first exhibition organized in 1880. In 1881 he returned to participate in a National Exhibition, after ten years of absence. There he presented, among others, two paintings of scenes of Sevillian customs, a theme that would become frequent in his pictorial production during this decade. His works reflect popular types and scenes of rural life. He focused especially on the representation of a single human type, surrounded by an allusive or identifying object, which provided greater typicality. During the years 1885 and 1890 he focused especially on large figures of popular types, and not so much on the composition of scenes.