José Benlliure Gil

JOSÉ BENLLIURE GIL (Valencia, 1855 - 1937).
"Corn Seller".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measures: 55 x 68 cm; 86 x 102 cm (frame).
José Benlliure cultivated genre themes and portraiture. In this case, he depicts a pagan scene of a woman selling corn on a winter's night. The colours are typical of the painter's palette and another of Benlliure's main characteristics is the treatment of light, emanating from a lamp.
José Benlliure began his artistic studies with Francisco Domingo in Valencia, later continuing his training in Madrid, where he settled in 1869. From an early age he enjoyed the patronage of the King of Savoy and in 1879 he moved to Rome, where he was discovered by the important art dealer Martin Colnaghi, who financed his studies in the city.

In 1897 he made several trips to Tangiers, Algeria and Morocco, where he approached the everyday world of the places he visited through his realistic, luminous and loose painting. From 1900 onwards his work depicts popular themes. He took part in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts, winning third medals in the editions of 1876 and 1878 and first in that of 1887. He belonged to the Academies of San Fernando (Madrid), San Lucas (Rome), San Carlos (Valencia), Brera (Milan) and Munich. Between 1904 and 1912 he directed the Spanish Academy in Rome. The most important part of his production is kept in Valencia, in his Casa Museo and in the San Pío V Fine Arts Museum. He is also represented in the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Palace of Charles V in Granada, among others.