Baldomero Galofre

BALDOMERO GALOFRE JIMÉNEZ (Reus, Tarragona, 1846 - Barcelona, 1902).
"Romeria".
Oil on panel.
Signed.
Measurements: 18 x 26 cm; 40 x 48 cm (frame).
In this work Baldomero Galofre captures a scene full of dynamism and narrative tension, captured with a language of clear impressionist filiation based on a special luminous sensibility and an agile, vibrant and full of life brushstroke, especially expressive in the characters and the horses. The painter takes pleasure both in the description of the details, mainly of the clothes and ornaments of the popular types, and in the narrative, looking for the expressiveness of the gestures and without skimping on secondary details. The work is a continuation of the Sevillian romantic school, the main exponent of the romantic type of costume painting of the 19th century in Spain. Traditionally, Spanish painting and literature have been interested in customs and popular types. The arrival of romanticism enlivened this current, bringing to the Hispanic tradition the vision that foreigners had of our people, due to the snobbery of a Europeanizing and liberal national bourgeoisie that, also by foreign influence and under the romantic fashion, turns its eyes to the people and the monuments of the past. This, general in all Spain, will be preferably in Andalusia, for being this land the dreamed goal of foreigners, and where the influence of the vision they had of the Spaniard and his peculiar customs had to be felt more strongly. Thus, of the two fundamental costumbrista schools, the Sevillian school is focused on a friendly and folkloric picturesqueness, far from any attempt at social criticism.
Baldomero Galofre began his training at the Escuela de La Lonja in Barcelona, where he was a disciple of Martí Alsina, and later completed his studies in Madrid. He became known in 1866 at the Fine Arts Exhibition in Barcelona, where he would participate again in 1870, and in 1868 he participated with landscapes and studies at the Aragonese Exhibition in Zaragoza. In 1874 he obtained a pension to further his studies in Rome, where he lived for ten years. There he attended the Chigi Academy and the International Circle of Art, and met Mariano Fortuny in the last months of his life, following the stylistic guidelines of his compatriot. Back in Barcelona, in 1884 he held a personal exhibition that was very well received; Narciso Oller praised his great naturalism, and showed him as an example against history painting. Four years later, in a new individual exhibition, this time in Madrid, one of his works was acquired by the Queen Regent. In 1903, in a special room in the Museum of Barcelona, Galofre presented an important exhibition of his work. He developed a luminous and detailed style, and painted landscapes and popular scenes within the orbit of Fortuny. He was also an extraordinary draughtsman. He is currently represented in the MACBA and the Art and History Museum of Reus, among other public and private collections.