Maria Rosario Álvarez de Sotomayor

MARIA ROSARIO ÁLVAREZ DE SOTOMAYOR Y CASTRO (Oleiros, A Coruña, 1921-¿)
"The Bath", 1959.
Oil on canvas.
Painted on both sides.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 101 x 117 cm; 124 x 109 cm (frame).

Work of notable interest within the production of Rosario Alvarez de Sotomayor, dated 1959 and focused on one of the classic themes of the figurative tradition: the female bath. The main composition presents an intimate and choral scene, built around the nude on her back in the foreground, whose luminosity concentrates the visual attention. Around him, several female figures, resolved with a loose brushstroke and a palette of ochers, earths, whites and muted reds, create an atmosphere of clear pictorial sensibility.
The work stands out for its compositional ambition and for the balance between academic training and modern freedom in the treatment of matter. The author avoids a detailed description to concentrate on the construction of volumes, the rhythm of the figures and the tonal richness of the drapery and flesh tones. The canvas is also painted on the back, where a secondary composition is preserved, also linked to the nude and the intimate environment, a circumstance that adds interest to the support and allows us to appreciate the creative process of the artist.

Daughter of the painter Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor, director of the Prado Museum, and the painter Pilar de Castro, Rosario Álvarez de Sotomayor was formed in an exceptional artistic environment, directly linked to the great Spanish pictorial tradition. She held her first exhibition at the Artists' Association in 1960, ran an art gallery in Madrid and exhibited in Pontevedra, Pamplona and London. She is also the author of the portrait of her father kept in the City Hall of A Coruña. Her work, not very frequent in the market, has a special attraction for collectors due to its relationship with a first-rate artistic saga.