110 - BARTOLOMÉ MONTALVO (Madrid, 1769- 1846)

BARTOLOMÉ MONTALVO (Madrid, 1769- 1846) "Landscape with hare". Oil on walnut board. Signed with initials in the lower right corner. An autograph replica of a work with the same subject is preserved in La Casita de El Príncipe de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Measurements: 58,5 x 48 cm. Painter disciple of Zacarías González Velázquez, according to Pérez Sánchez he must have also studied in Italy. His formation was completed in the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, in which he enrolled in 1785 and of which he became an academician of merit in 1814. A year later, in 1815, he was appointed chamber painter to Ferdinand VII, for whom he painted a series of landscapes of the Royal Sites that would allow him, from that moment on, to enjoy a certain economic stability until his death. Years before, in the early date of 1795, Montalvo appears collaborating with Mariano Salvador Maella in the realization of the "Allegories of the Seasons" along with Vicente López, José de Madrazo, José Aparicio, Ramón Lletget, José Leonino Peros, Juan Gálvez and Carlos Mariani. During his training at the Academy he specialized in landscape painting, although he never abandoned his fondness for still lifes, presenting some of them in the Exhibitions held at the Academy since 1793. Thus, in 1807 he exhibited a "Still Life with Hare", in 1808 a "Still Life with Fish" along with four landscapes and, in 1819, four more works of a similar nature. In 1814 he applied for the title of Academician of Merit, citing among his merits the fact that he had been granted a pension by Charles IV in the field of landscape painting, as well as having held several positions for the monarch, which indicates that his relationship with the court had begun several years earlier. Among his works it is worth mentioning the marine and landscape paintings destined to decorate the room of fine woods of the palace of El Escorial, as well as his still lifes of hunting, indebted to those of Luis Egidio Meléndez. In his still lifes the Neapolitan influence can be appreciated. Regarding his aesthetics, and especially in his facet of still life, his great gifts as a colorist and his good use of light have always been valued. In the inventories of goods made after his death we discover that the artist owned a magnificent collection of paintings and prints, although we do not know how many were by his hand.