Antonio Cánovas del Castillo y Vallejo, better known as Kaulak (22 December 1862 – 13 September 1933), was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

and

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

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 ...

. His uncle was prime minister

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (8 February 18288 August 1897) was a Spanish people, Spanish politician and historian known principally for serving six terms as Spanish Prime Minister, prime minister and his overarching role as "architect" of the ...

, assassinated in 1897 by an anarchist, hence his use of a pseudonym; the meaning of which is unexplained, although the word appears to be of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

origin.

Biography

He was originally a lawyer, and held several public offices before deciding to devote himself to photography. This included high positions in the ministries of Interior and Justice, as well as holding a seat in the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

(legislature), representing the constituency of Cieza, in the early 1890s. He also served for a brief period as Civil Governor of the

province of Málaga The province of Málaga ( ) is located in Andalusia, Spain. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and by the provinces of Cádiz to the west, Seville to the northwest, Córdoba to the north, and Granada to the east. The province ...

. During this time, he wrote art criticism for the illustrated version of ', and studied painting under the tutelage of

Carlos de Haes Carlos Sebastián Pedro Hubert de Haes (January 25, 1829 – June 17, 1898) was a Spanish painter from Belgium.Caso, E. F., ''Les Orientalistes de l'école Espagnole,'' ACR edition, 1997, p. 128 He was noted for the Realism (arts), Realism in h ...

; signing his works as "Vascano". As for his photographic activity, he opposed

pictorialism Pictorialism is an international style and aesthetic movement that dominated photography during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. There is no standard definition of the term, but in general it refers to a style in which the photographer ha ...

, which was the prevalent approach at the time, in favor of professional portraits, rendered in a "purist" manner. He eventually came to be known as the "Spanish

Nadar Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (; 5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910), known by the pseudonym Nadar () or Félix Nadar'','' was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloon (aircraft), balloonist, and proponent of History of avi ...

". His portraits encompassed a wide range of notables, including prime ministers

Antonio Maura Antonio Maura Montaner (2 May 1853 – 13 December 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions. Early life Maura was born in Palma de Mallorca, Palma, on the island of Mallorca, he was the seventh child in a family of t ...

and

Eduardo Dato Eduardo Dato e Iradier (12 August 1856 – 8 March 1921) was a Spanish political leader during the Spanish Restoration period. He served three times as Spanish prime minister: from 27 October 1913 to 9 December 1915, from 11 June 1917 to 3 No ...

, writers such as

José Echegaray José Echegaray y Eizaguirre (19 April 183214 September 1916) was a Spanish civil engineer, mathematician, wikt:statesman, statesman, and one of the leading Spaniards, Spanish dramatists of the last quarter of the 19th century. He was awarded t ...

, his fellow photographer, , and the

bullfighter A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activ ...

, as well as members of the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

. In 1901, he created the magazine, ''La Fotografía'', which for many years served as the official organ of the .P. López Mondéjar, ''Historia de la fotografía en España'', 1999, Lunwerg editores He also collaborated with several other magazines, including ''

Blanco y Negro Blanco y Negro Records (Spanish: "White and Black"), a subsidiary of WEA Records Ltd., was established in 1983 by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and Mike Alway of él Records. Michel Duval of Les Disques du Crépuscule was also involve ...

'' and, in 1902, won a prize sponsored by that magazine, to provide illustrations for ', a book of poems by

Ramón de Campoamor y Campoosorio Ramón María de las Mercedes Pérez de Campoamor y Campoosorio (September 24, 1817 – February 11, 1901), known as Ramón de Campoamor, was a Spanish realist poet and philosopher. Life He was born at Navia (Asturias) on September 24, 1817. ...

. They were later issued as postcards. He also created a series of postcards with the Swiss-born photographers, Adolfo Menet (1866–1927) and Oscar Hauser. He opened the Kaulak Studios on the

Calle de Alcalá Calle de Alcalá is among the longest streets in Madrid. It starts at the Puerta del Sol and goes on for , to the northeastern outskirts of the city. Henry David Inglis described it in 1837 as "long, of superb width, and flanked by a splendid rang ...

in 1904, and immediately attracted an upper-class clientele. In 1912, he published a technical manual: ''La fotografía moderna. Manual compendiado de los conocimientos indispensables del fotógrafo'', under his real name. He died in Madrid, aged seventy, and was interred at

Saint Isidore Cemetery Saint Isidore Cemetery is a monumental cemetery in the Spanish capital Madrid. Its first courtyard was erected in 1811 and new expansions were added throughout the 19th Century. Its central courtyard, called "Patio de la Concepción" (Conception c ...

. His studio was operated by his family, except for a period during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, and remained in business until 1989.

Selected works

File:Enrique Borrás por Kaulak.png, File:Rosario Pino, en "Amor y Ciencia", de Kaulak.jpg, File:Antonio Maura, de Kaulak.jpg,

Carmencita de Icaza y de León, de Kaulak.jpg,

Carmen de Icaza María Carmen de Icaza y de León, 8th Baroness of Claret (17 May 1899 – 16 March 1979) was a Spanish journalist and novelist from 1935–60.Maureen Ihrie & Salvador Oropesa. ''World Literature in Spanish: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia'', p ...

File:Alfonso XIII, de Kaulak.jpg, King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

File:Matilde Moreno, de Kaulak, en Mundo Gráfico.jpg, File:Eduardo Dato, por Kaulak.jpg,

References

External links

"Un excelente artista: ha muerto Kaulak"
obituary from ' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaulak 1862 births 1933 deaths Spanish photographers Members of the Cortes Generales Spanish art critics Spanish editors Artists from Madrid

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links