1085 - PORTRAIT OF GOYA - EUGENIO LUCAS VELÁZQUEZ, 19TH CENTURY – SPAIN

PORTRAIT OF GOYA - EUGENIO LUCAS VELÁZQUEZ, 19TH CENTURY – SPAIN We thank Dr. Arturo Anson for identifying this painting. Provenance: Private collection - In good condition considering its age and use - Overall dimensions: 165 x 130 cm - Dimensions without frame: 130 x 96 cm. An exceptional large-format oil on canvas, “Portrait of Goya,” attributed to Eugenio Lucas Velázquez (1817–1870). This work is a reinterpretation of the portrait of Francisco de Goya painted in 1826 by Vicente López Portaña (Valencia, 1772–Madrid, 1850), a Neoclassical painter and portraitist of the elite (Prado Museum). The sitter is depicted seated in an armchair, gazing directly at the viewer in a benevolent and contemplative pose, holding a paintbrush in his left hand. He wears a frock coat in a gray-green hue, a waistcoat, and a jabot. Eugenio Lucas Velázquez executed the portrait with great freedom and fluid brushwork, departing from the meticulous academic finish characteristic of Neoclassicism. The technique is energetic, lending the face strength, vitality, and frankness. Against a turbulent background that evokes Goya’s complex and profound personality, the painter captures all of the subject’s strength and character in the gaze directed at the viewer, giving absolute prominence to the psychological portrait. The treatment of the color palette, in contrast to the deep pictorial background, contributes, through its creative execution, to the creation of atmosphere and artistic sensitivity. He uses a limited color palette of ochres and deep blacks for the background. Eugenio Lucas Velázquez (Madrid, 1817–1870) began his career as a cabinetmaker and eventually became the appraiser of Goya’s Black Paintings. He trained at the Royal Academy of San Fernando. He spent much of his time copying works by Velázquez and Goya at the Prado Museum. Madrazo was his great teacher. In 1852, he traveled to Paris, where he was greatly influenced by the French painter ...