Eugenio Lucas Villaamil

EUGENIO LUCAS VILLAMIL (Madrid, 1858 - 1918).
"Gallant scene".
Oil on canvas.
Preserves period frame.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 90 x 64 cm; 106 x 81 cm (frame).
Gallant scene in which a group of people enjoying peacefully in a park can be appreciated. Although the artist highlights in the foreground a seated female figure accompanied by an elderly man. This type of scenes, of gallant and hedonistic theme, cheerful and colorful, worked with a precious and descriptive invoice, were frequent during the second half of the 19th century and extended during the 20th century, within the context of historicism. They belong to the genre called "de casacones" in Spain,
Son of the painter Eugenio Lucas Velázquez, also a follower of Francisco de Goya, he inherited from his father the speed and ease in the use of the brush. His brushstroke, short and thick, denounces his deep admiration for the great Spanish masters, such as Velázquez, Carreño, Murillo and, above all, Goya. His painting moves away from academicism and is loose and undone, impastoed and of great chromatic richness, while his subjects speak of the people and their customs. He studied at the Special School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving in Madrid, where he stood out for his mastery as a draftsman. He completed his training by assiduously visiting the Prado Museum, where he copied several works by Goya. He also frequented the intellectual circles of Madrid at the end of the 19th century, until he was discovered by the patron José Lázaro Galdiano, who appointed him his chamber painter and commissioned him to decorate his palace in Parque Florido. Among the distinctions he received during his lifetime was that of Knight of the Order of Carlos III. Lucas Villamil's work is preserved in the National Gallery in Washington D. C., the Lázaro Galdiano and Mapfre Foundations in Madrid, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Havana, Badajoz and Alava, the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián, the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection and the Camón Aznar Museum.