Francisco Pradilla

FRANCISCO PRADILLA Y ORTIZ (Villanueva de Gállego, Zaragoza, 1848 - Madrid, 1921)
"Ascent to the peak of Veleta. Sierra Nevada", 1879.
Watercolor on paper.
Signed, dated and titled in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 40 × 28 cm, 55 × 42 cm (frame).

A suspended and almost evanescent atmosphere defines this high mountain view, where Francisco Pradilla captures with extraordinary sensitivity the effects of light and humidity in the landscape of Sierra Nevada. The composition, open and asymmetrical, leads the eye across the slopes towards a horizon that dissolves in the mist.

Pradilla's works on paper, especially those related to landscape, are highly appreciated for their freshness and for showing the most immediate process of his artistic practice.

Francisco Pradilla trained in Zaragoza and at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid, where his teachers were Federico de Madrazo and Carlos de Haes, completing his apprenticeship by copying at the Museo del Prado. In 1874 he obtained a pension to Rome, where he lived for more than two decades and which would decisively mark his career. He achieved early recognition with the Medal of Honor at the National Exhibition of 1878 and at the Universal Exhibition in Paris that same year.

He was director of the Spanish Academy in Rome and, in 1897, of the Prado Museum. His work, very well known internationally in his time, was presented in competitions in cities such as Paris, London or Buenos Aires. A specialist in history painting -with emblematic works such as Doña Juana la Loca-, he also cultivated landscape and genre scenes. He is represented in the Prado Museum, the Hispanic Society of America in New York and numerous public and private collections.