José María Rodríguez de Losada

JOSÉ MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ DE LOSADA, (Seville, 1826 - Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, 1896).
"Saint Teresa of Jesus", 1886.
Oil on panel.
Signed and dated in the upper left corner.
It presents Repainting.
Measurements: 52 x 42 cm, 69 x 58.50 cm (frame).
José María Rodríguez de Losada began his apprenticeship in Seville, but developed all his pictorial activity in Jerez de la Frontera. He cultivated history and portrait painting, although in his beginnings he dedicated himself to costumbrismo, as his work "Pareja de majos" (Couple of majos), from 1843, shows. The artistic style of Rodríguez de Losada," says Valdivieso, "shows a loose and scrubbed brushstroke, sometimes careless and summary. This technique, healthy in principle because of its modernity, was rejected at the time by critics, especially for being accompanied by a violent coloring with a predominance of brownish tones that, in effect, produce little visual gratitude." In fact, this artist denotes in his works a marked influence of romanticism, which is reflected in his painting in an intense dramatism both thematically and formally, very different from the cheerful and friendly feeling of the paintings of many of his contemporaries. Among his most important historical works are "Desembarco de Colón en América" (University of Barcelona), "La batalla de Alcolea" (Academia de Historia) and "Doña Juana la Loca con el cadáver de su esposo" (Museo de Cádiz). Rodríguez de Losada was also inspired by literature and art for some of his works, such as "El bravo alcalde del Zahara", "Quevedo leyendo un epigrama contra el conde duque de Olivares" or "Valdés Leal inspirándose para pintar las Postrimerías". Of neo-Romantic inspiration were paintings such as "A widow finding the corpse of her husband on the battlefield" (1858), and as a portraitist, the portrait of Alfonso XII (Diputación de Cádiz) stands out. He was also a painter of religious themes and some still lifes, such as the one entitled "Dead Duck" (1884). Belonging to the Order of Santiago and corresponding academic of San Fernando, Rodriguez de Losada participated for several years in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts, being awarded with honorable mention in its editions of 1858 and 1867. He was also awarded the silver medal of Carlos III at the Seville Exhibition of 1843, a gold medal at those organized by the Academy of Santa Isabel de Hungría in Seville in 1854 and 1856, and also a gold medal at the exhibition organized by the Amigos del País in 1858. His work can currently be seen in the Prado Museum and in the Provincial Museum of Cadiz, as well as in other art collections, both public and private.