France: “Velázquez” Exposition at the Grand Palais
In Paris, the Reunion of National Museums – Grand Palais and the Louvre Museum, collaborating with the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna, presents at the Grand Palais a retrospective on the leader of the Spanish school, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599-1660), accompanied by works of painters who were his contemporaries. 119 works are being exposed, 57 of them by Velázquez, until July 13, 2015.
Born in 1599 in Seville, an opulent city, Velázquez, the eldest of eight children, was formed at a young age in the studio of Francisco Pacheco, an influential and cultivated painter of the Andalusian capital. From Pacheco, Velázquez learned the technical skills of drawing and painting, still life and portraits. During his early years in Seville, Velázquez produced traditional religious works such as the Immaculate Conception or St. John the Evangelist in Patmos, as well as “bodegones” (literally “tavern scenes”) or paintings of daily life. At the age of 24, he was named painter of the king Philip IV and moved to Madrid. He met Rubens, who visited the court in 1628. During his second voyage to Italy, he painted portraits including that of Innocent X. The Sevillan was particularly appreciated by the impressionists in the late 19th century, and was called the “painter of painters” by Edouard Manet.
The small number of his works, hardly more than a hundred, many of which are at the museum of Prado (Madrid), made it difficult to organize a complete retrospective. But the exposition presents a panorama of his works, from his beginnings in Seville to the last royal portraits executed by the Spanish master, as well as the influence his art had on his contemporaries. Among his principal scientific contributions, the exposition at the Grand Palais presents unprecedented or recently attributed tableaux, including: The Immaculate Conception (Seville, Focus Abengoa foundation), Saint Rufina (Seville, Focus Abengoa foundation), St. John the Baptist in the desert (Chicago Art Institute) as well as The Education of the Virgin and the Portrait of the Inquisitor Sebastian de Huerta.
Lastly, the retrospective at the Grand Palais raises the question of the possible influence of Caravaggism on Velázquez’ painting. The notice on St. Thomas indicates that this tableau and his St. Paul “are the most obviously Caravaggian tableaux painted by the young Sevillan. While it is yet to be proved that he was able to see the Lombardian master’s works directly, the Apostles of Orleans and of Barcelona suggests that he knew some of Ribera’s early creations.”
Velázquez, until July 13, at the Grand Palais, national galleries, entry Jean-Perrin Square, 75008 Paris. Entry: Sunday and Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Closed on Tuesday. Full fare: 13€, reduced fare: 9€ (16-25, looking for a job, large families).
(source: grandpalais – DICI no.313 April 24, 2015)
