Eugenio Lucas Villamil

EUGENIO LUCAS VILLAMIL (Madrid, 1858 - 1918).
"Scene of majos".
Oil on canvas.
Presents restorations.
Measurements: 51,5 x 73,5 cm; 67 x 88,5 cm (frame).
In the work of Eugenio Lucas Villamil, the painting of majos occupies a prominent place as a direct inheritance of the popular imaginary of Madrid and the tradition of Goyesque. The majos and majas, traditional figures associated with popular neighborhoods and a picturesque Spanish identity, allowed him to explore scenes full of character, movement and a certain festive air, but also of veiled social criticism.far from being simple costumbrista prints, these representations function as a bridge between late romanticism and a more modern sensibility, where the popular becomes a legitimate artistic theme.

Son of the painter Eugenio Lucas Velázquez, also a follower of Francisco de Goya, he inherited from his father the speed and ease with which he used his 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 as 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.