Julio Romero de Torres (9 November 1874 – 10 May 1930) was a Spanish

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

.Museo Julio Romero
/ref> His brothers, Rafael and , also became painters.

Biography

He was the son of Rafael Romero Barros, a painter who served as Director of the Fine Arts Museum of Córdoba. When he was ten, he began his apprenticeship with his father at the School Of Fine Arts. His first known works, ''Head of an Arab'' and ''On Horseback'', date from 1889. Two years later, he was providing illustrations for the '' Diario de Córdoba. In 1895, he had his first showing at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts, where he received honorable mention. Although he attempted to win a scholarship to the Spanish Academy in Rome in 1897, he was unsuccessful. The following year, his brother Rafael died, aged only thirty-three. He participated in the 1899 National Exhibition, being awarded a third-class medal. It was then that he began teaching at the art school and married Francisca Pellicer López, who was also from a family of artists. He was named a Professor at the school in 1903. During these years, he travelled extensively, visiting Italy, France, England, and the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

. At the National Exhibition of 1906, his entry, ''Nurseries of Love'' (depicting prostitution), was rejected for being immoral, but received more attention from the public than the winning entries. At the Exhibition of 1908, he was awarded a first-class medal for his ''Gypsy Muse''. In 1912, his work went unrecognized again, but his admirers presented him with his own gold medal, sculpted by Julio Antonio. After being snubbed at the Exhibition of 1915, he stopped participating, but chose to settle in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. In 1916, he became a Professor of "Antique Drawing and Clothing" at the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

. He represented the Academia at numerous international exhibitions, but his greatest success came in 1922 when he went to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

with his brother Enrique to open a showing at the Witcomb Gallery. His presentation included a catalog written by the famous author, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, and was a resounding success. Shortly after, he was elected a full member of the Real Academia, and the academy in Córdoba. By 1928, his health was visibly declining and his doctors advised him to take a long rest. Exhausted from overwork and liver disease, he returned to his hometown in 1930 to recuperate, but continued to work. He left two paintings unfinished when he died at the age of fifty-five. Much of the city turned out to mourn.

Selected paintings

The Museum of Julio Romero de Torres at his former residence in Córdoba houses examples of his works, as well as works by Francisco Zurbarán, Alejo Fernández,

Antonio del Castillo Antonio del Castillo y Saavedra (10 July 1616 – 2 February 1668) was a Spanish Baroque painter, sculptor, and poet. Biography Antonio del Castillo y Saavedra was born at Córdoba, Spain. He trained in painting under his father Agustín d ...

, and Valdés Leal. Some of his important works at the museum include ''Amor místico y amor profano'', ''El Poema de Córdoba'', ''Marta y María'', ''La saeta'', ''Cante hondo'', ''La consagración de la copla'', ''Carmen'', and '' La chiquita piconera''. File:La Buenaventura by Julio Romero de Torres.jpg, ''Fate'' File:Nuestra Señora de Andalucía by Julio Romero de Torres.JPG, ''Nuestra Señora de Andalucía'' File:Autorretrato joven by Julio Romero de Torres.jpg, ''Self-portrait'' (c.1905) File:La Saeta by Julio Romero de Torres.jpg, ''La Saeta'' File:Julio Romero de Torres - Venus of Poetry - Google Art ProjectFXD.jpg, The '' Venus of Poetry'' File:Naranjas y limones by Julio Romero de Torres.jpg, ''Oranges and Lemons'' File:La chiquita piconera by Julio Romero de Torres.jpg, '' La chiquita piconera'' File:La Fuensanta, by Julio Romero de Torres.jpg, '' La Fuensanta''

References

Sources

* Ramón Pérez de Ayala, "Julio Romero de Torres, pintor" and "Romero de Torres en la Argentina", in: ''Ramón Pérez de Ayala y las artes plásticas'', exhibition catalog, Granada, Fundación Rodríguez-Acosta, 1991 * Francisco Calvo Serraller, "La hora de iluminar lo negro: tientos sobre Julio Romero de Torres", in: ''Julio Romero de Torres (1874-1930)'', exhibition catalog, Fundación Cultural Mapfre Vida, 1993. * Francisco Zueras Torrent, ''Julio Romero de Torres, su vida y su mundo'', Córdoba, Ayuntamiento, Delegación de Cultura, 1974.

External links

Scholarly articles
in English about Julio Romero de Torres both in web an
PDF
@ th
Spanish Old Masters GalleryMuseo Julio Romero de Torres
Córdoba

@ Pintura Mural Cordobesa (Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico) {{DEFAULTSORT:Romero de Torres, Julio 1874 births 1930 deaths 20th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Artists from Córdoba, Spain