327 - DARIO DE REGOYOS

DARIO DE REGOYOS Asturias 1857 – Barcelona 1913 Portrait of Carmen. 1890 Oil on canvas Signed Dimensions: 35.5 x 24 cm This work was painted by Darío de Regoyos in 1890, when Regoyos, a bachelor, lived in San Sebastián at 8 San Marcial Street. He met a young woman with whom he formed a close friendship, even considering that it might develop into something more, as they understood each other both personally and artistically. Her name was Carmen, as stated in the letter she wrote from Licq (near Roncesvalles, during an artistic excursion) to the great Belgian poet Émile Verhaeren (1855–1916), from which we have excerpted the paragraph that quotes her: Mr. Émile Verhaeren, Brussels, 31 bis Rue du Moulin October 14, 1890 My dear old friend: . . . . . . For my intelligent friends—though you are few and far between in Spain—there is already a certain Carmen, . . . with whom I can talk for hours without growing weary. . . . . . . The Carmen in question has been nothing more than a very close friend so far. . . . . My dear Emile, one day later, my dear friend and dear companion of my soul. DARIO This work bears his signature, and his handwriting corresponds to the year in which he created it. Juan San Nicolás