Pablo Salinas

JUAN PABLO SALINAS Y TERUEL (Madrid, 1871 – Rome, 1946).
“Seated Lady,” Rome.
Oil on panel.
Signed and dated in the upper left corner.
Measurements: 36.5 x 16 cm; 43 x 33 cm (frame).
Delicate in character, the “Seated Lady” presented here is undoubtedly a clear example of Salinas’s Preciosismo-style work, in which the artist creates an intimate atmosphere to delve into the psychological introspection of the subject.
Juan Pablo Salinas began his artistic training at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, although his time there was likely brief. He began to make a name for himself in 1885, the year he participated in the exhibition organized by the Association of Writers and Artists and in the Aragonese Exhibition, receiving a third-class medal at both events. Around 1886, he moved to Rome to further his studies thanks to a scholarship granted by the Provincial Council of Zaragoza. There, he attended the International Circle of Fine Arts, as well as evening classes at the Chigi Academy. He also became part of the Spanish artistic community living in the city and worked alongside his brother, Agustín Salinas—also a painter—who had been living in Rome since 1883. Both brothers submitted works to the 1887 National Fine Arts Exhibition in Madrid; Juan Pablo submitted “Mark Antony and Cleopatra,” a subject drawn from classical history. Like his brother—his true mentor—Salinas also depicted medieval themes with a notable Tuscan influence, in works such as “Romeo and Juliet” and “Scene from the Decameron.” His style would evolve toward costumbrismo, with a special focus on Spanish and Italian folk scenes, such as “A Wedding in Aragon,” “Return of the Grape Harvesters,” and other works. His career remained closely linked to his brother’s until, on a trip to Paris, he discovered the work of Ernest Meissonier, whose influence led him to focus on the “casacones” genre, with which he achieved great commercial success in France, Italy, Central Europe, Russia, and the Americas. During these years, he exhibited at the Salons Roger and began his famous compositions set in an 18th-century atmosphere, in which figures dressed in the fashion of the era appear against the backdrop of luxurious interiors, meticulously detailed through a preciousist technique that delights in the colorful depiction of clothing and lace but, above all, in the masterful rendering of the women’s complexions, which are deliberately sensual. During this period, Salinas also produced several series intended for the decoration of large salons. In addition to these themes, he painted Orientalist scenes and church interiors. In the final stage of his career, his work shows a reduction in detail, taking on a looser and less descriptive style. Juan Pablo Salinas’s work is currently represented in the Prado Museum (a work on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias in Oviedo), the Bellver Collection in Seville, and other public and private collections.