Eugenio Lucas Villaamil

EUGENIO LUCAS VILLAAMIL (Madrid, 1858-1919).
"Pilgrimage".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 52 x 67 cm; 61 x 74 x 3 cm (frame).

The pilgrimages of Eugenio Lucas Villaamil are a vibrant and somewhat more colorful continuation of the tradition initiated by his father, Eugenio Lucas Velázquez, and by Francisco de Goya himself. Following in the wake of the Goyaesque Madrid of the late 19th century, the canvas in bidding presents in the foreground a manola and a majo holding arms, posing for the viewer. In the background, the booths of the fair accentuate the sense of bustle.

Eugenio Lucas Villaamil was a Spanish painter, Knight of the Order of Carlos III. Son of the painter Eugenio Lucas Velázquez and Francisca Villaamil, he began his artistic training in his father's workshop and continued his studies at the Special School of Painting in Madrid. He participated in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts with Italian works. His paintings maintain the influence of the characteristics of those of his father, with the repetition of Goyaesque themes, resolved with great compositional skill and joy of color. He also copied several themes of the Aragonese, as can be seen in his works Entrada a los toros, Sol of 1885 or Salida de los toros, lluvia of 1885, works set in that traditional Madrid, starring majas and chisperos, of great picturesqueness and popular flavor. In this thematic line, his work En el palco (In the Box) stands out, in which he brings together different resources tested by his father in some of his canvases. In addition to the bullfighting themes, numerous paintings of "Casacones" such as Baile en palacio of 1894 or El mago en palacio of 1894, in which he represents ornate palace environments in rococo style. He was a skilled copyist of some of Goya's paintings, those kept in the Prado, and was protected by the well-known collector José Lázaro Galdiano. He had a truly versatile style and was indisputably creative. He also executed portraits, such as the children's group of the García de Palencia brothers. In addition to applying all his skill in the handling of light with its reflections and hallmarks, he demonstrated his mastery in the treatment of masses of people in movement.