Horacio Lengo

HORACIO LENGO MARTÍNEZ (Torremolinos, 1838-Madrid, 1890).
"Neapolitan".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner. Dated and located (Paris) in the upper right area.
Measurements: 126 x 66 cm.
The exquisite pictorial plasticity that emanates from each detail in this feminine portrait elevates it beyond the costumbrista interest to capture the folklore of a place, in this case, through the clothes of a Neapolitan woman. We are before a portrait, in which the protagonist is presented standing and facing the viewer, although oblivious to his gaze, as the young woman tenderly holds a dove.
Horacio Lengo was born into a wealthy family, being educated by his grandfather, consul of Trieste and Tuscany. From a very young age he became fond of drawing, and in 1845 he took part in an exhibition at the Lyceum. Some time later he began his career as a civil servant in the Treasury, being assigned to Cadiz in 1855. There he married a rich heiress of an illustrious surname in the city, and it was during these years when he came into contact with the artistic world through his teacher and great friend Serafín Martínez del Rincón, a painter from Palencia who was transferred to the School of Fine Arts in Cádiz. Lengo returned to his native Malaga in 1871, and participated in several national exhibitions. The following year he will be appointed secretary of the Liceo in its Fine Arts section, and in 1874. In the French capital he will attend Léon Bonnard's workshop as a disciple, and will take part in a collective exhibition in 1975. From Paris Lengo returns with a different conception of painting, and from 1877 his painting will begin to be recognized in Malaga, thanks to the success of his participation in various competitions and exhibitions. In 1882 he settled permanently in Madrid. In 1890 he achieved great recognition with a portrait of his daughter, this being his last public exhibition since that same year, suffering from a fatal illness, he committed suicide in his Madrid studio. In addition to portraiture and caricature, Lengo cultivated the composition of small still lifes and decorative artistic caprices with poetic and literary titles, often starring elegant birds. Within this group is the canvas presented here, as well as those preserved in the Museo del Prado "Leonora" and "Manrique", inspired by the characters of the opera "The Troubadour" by Antonio García Gutiérrez, premiered at the Teatro Príncipe in 1836. Horacio Lengo is currently represented in the Prado Museum, the Provincial Council and the Municipal Heritage Museum of Malaga and in the Goya Secondary School of Zaragoza, as well as in various private collections.