José Camarón Circle

Circle of JOSÉ CAMARON BORONAT (Segorbe, Castellón, 1731 - Valencia, 1803).
"Landscape with navy".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 74 x 142 cm; 82 x 152 cm (frame).
Painting attributed to José Camarón Bonanat that represents a landing on the seashore is a significant example of narrative and scenographic art developed by this Valencian artist in the context of the eighteenth century. The scene is structured with compositional clarity: the main nucleus of action is concentrated on the left side of the canvas, where a group of human figures - arranged with dynamism and a variety of attitudes - is grouped around the activity of the landing, possibly in an episode of historical or costumbrista character, in accordance with the thematic interests of the artist.
The treatment of the figures shows a deep knowledge of classicist academicism, with a careful anatomical construction. The chromatic richness, especially in the clothing and in the hallmarks between the figures and the maritime environment, reinforces the vivacity of the moment represented. To this is added a certain theatricality in the arrangement of the characters, which seems to be inspired both in the baroque tradition and in the illustrated scenography of the 18th century.
The mastery of drawing, characteristic of the artist both in his pictorial production and in his graphic work, is manifested here in the precision of the contours and the expressiveness of the faces, elements that endow the scene with eloquence and clarity. As a whole, this painting reveals itself not only as an exercise in technical virtuosity, but also as a representative example of the enlightened sensibility of the Spanish 18th century, in which visual narration, observation of reality and a profoundly academic aesthetic merge.

Painter, engraver and illustrator, José Camarón Boronat was one of the most outstanding Valencian painters of the second half of the 18th century. He came from a family of artists, and was the father of the painter José Camarón Meliá. He began his training with his father, the sculptor Nicolás Camarón, and continued his studies under the direction of his uncle Eliseus Camarón, a painter of miniatures who transmitted to him a virtuoso detail. Later, for a brief period of time, he studied with the rococo painter Miguel Posadas. In 1749 he moved to Valencia, where he remained until 1752, when he went to Madrid to complete his training. It is believed that he attended the workshop of the Valencian Francisco Bonay and, perhaps, the classes of the Academy of San Fernando, where Corrado Giaquinto left his mark on his style. In his first stage, Camarón Boronat dedicated himself to landscape painting, miniatures and copies of Baroque masters such as Titian, Rubens, Van Dyck and Murillo. In 1754 he returned to Valencia, where he was appointed professor of painting at the newly created Academy of Santa Barbara. Years later, in 1762, the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid accepted him as a member of merit, and in 1768 he was among the founders of the Academy of San Carlos, where he was first professor of painting and later general director. Camarón Boronat was a good teacher and a prolific painter, who dealt with all genres: he made numerous religious and profane paintings, allegories, portraits, landscapes and seascapes.