Josep Llovera Bofill

JOSEP LLOVERA BOFILL (Reus, Tarragona, 1846 - 1896).
"Maja with fan".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 60 x 80 cm; 83 x 103 cm (frame).
Llovera portrays in this painting a Spanish woman, dressed in an elegant dress and mantilla. She shows a traditional brunette beauty and appears in a proud posture; while she bends her left arm making her hand rest on her waist, with her right hand she holds a fan at the height of her face. Her gesture brings us closer to her gaze, returning it to us, it is reciprocal. The painting is part of the romantic folklorist tradition.
Traditionally, Spanish painting and literature have been interested in popular customs and 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 one from Seville is focused on a kind and folkloric picturesqueness, far from any attempt of social criticism; on the other hand, the one from Madrid is more pungent and harsh, sometimes showing not only the vulgar, but even recreating in torn visions of a typical world of the slums, in which the critical spirit is evident.
Painter, draftsman and doctor in Pharmacy, Josep Llovera began his career collaborating as an illustrator under the pseudonym of "Mr. Petrequín" with publications such as "Un tros de paper", "L'Ase", "La campana de Gracia", "L'Esquella de la Torratxa", "La Ilustració Catalana", "Gil Blas" and others. In 1865 he published "Álbum humorístico". Thanks to the indications of Mariano Fortuny he also dedicated himself to painting, focusing on the themes of popular scenes and types, which he captured with finesse and elegance. He also worked in watercolor and etching. Josep Llovera is currently represented in the MACBA, the Municipal de Reus, the Fine Arts Museum of Buenos Aires and the University of Barcelona, as well as in various private collections.