The Julio Romero de Torres Museum is a museum located in the city of Córdoba, Spain, which is notable for containing the largest collection of the famous Cordoban painter

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

. It is located in the building of the old Hospital of la Caridad, which also houses the Museum of Fine Arts of Córdoba. The museum has been declared a ''

Bien de Interés Cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" (" goods" in the economic sense) and incl ...

'' in the category of monument since 1962.

History

After the death of

on May 10, 1930, Francisca Pellicer, widow of the painter, and their children, Rafael, Amalia and María, decided to create a museum dedicated to the memory of the artist, bequeathing it to the city of Córdoba. So, on November 23, 1931, the museum was created and inaugurated by the president of the republic, Niceto Alcalá Zamora. In 1934, the adjoining house was purchased, and the current museum was inaugurated on May 24, 1936. The last remodeling dates back to 1992, for the installation of lighting and security systems, as well as for the renovation of part of the structures of the museum. The Order of July 7, 1997, agrees the entry of this museum in the Register of Museums of Andalusia (BOJA 91 of August 7, 1997). The Decision of February 25, 1998 of the General Directorate of Historical Heritage Institutions publishes the list of museums registered and annotated preventively in the Registry of Museums of Andalusia, among which is found in: BOJA 38 of April 4, 1998. With the Resolution of December 19, 2001, a subsidy of 1,200,000 Spanish pesetas (€7,212.15) is granted. (BOJA 20 February 16, 2002). In June 2005, the museum closed its doors for its renovation, as well as for the restoration of the Hospital de la Caridad, which owns the building where the museum is. On January 24, 2012, the museum reopened its doors, receiving in its first 5 days almost 5.000 visitors.

Exhibition halls

Exhibition Hall 1

shared the French poster movement as an advertising medium, and he conducted a series of works whereby he was integrated into the new movement. In Cordoba, he painted ''La Feria del ganado'' of 1897, ''Ferias y Fiestas'' of 1902, and ''La Feria de Nuestra Señora de la Salud'' of 1905, 1912, 1913 and 1916. The Winery Cruz-Conde commissioned him the advertisement of their wines and the popular Anisette labels "La Cordobesa". In Madrid, he made the poster of ''La corrida patriótica'' in 1921 for the benefit of the victims of the

Battle of Annual The Battle of Annual was fought on 22 July 1921 at Annual, in northeastern Morocco, between the Spanish Army and Rifian Berbers during the Rif War. The Spanish suffered a major military defeat, which is almost always referred to by the Spanish ...

, and he made for the Spanish Explosives Factory Riotinto four calendar posters of 1924,1925,1929 and the one published in 1931. The museum preserves original paintings in which the artist had the knowledge to combine the modernist influences with the aspects of his homeland. This room in the museum's vestibule is completed by several display cabinets with publications, manuscripts and tickets dedicated to the painter.

Exhibition Hall 2

The circumstances that surrounded the painter are present in this room, which is dedicated to his memory. It contains photographic reproductions of his parents and siblings of their family house in Cordoba, of the painter's studio in Madrid, and of the successes achieved in 1922 in Argentina at the Witcomb Gallery in Buenos Aires. Furniture that accompanied him all his life: bargueños, ceramics, copper utensils that were frequent motifs on his canvases. His guitar, cape and hat can be seen in the display cabinet, his paintings, palette and brushes, and the issuance of stamps in homage to his figure, introduce us to the world of this creator. Some representative works, in line with social painting, that marked his first steps in painting are: ''Look how pretty she was!'', awarded with the Honorable Mention in the National Exhibition of 1895; ''Hours of distress'', a drawing of great dimensions. And, finally, a portrait of Maria Teresa Lopez with a nun's habit, which is his last unfinished work left on the easel. All these works set us in his living scene. File:Mira que bonita era by Julio Romero de Torres.jpg, ''Look how pretty she was!'' (1895)

Exhibition Hall 3

This exhibition hall is dedicated to women and it gathers much of the most archetypal paintings of his career: '' La chiquita piconera'', Romero de Torres's most famous painting; ''Viva el pelo'', ''La Copla'', which were painted during his last years of life. Female nude is the predominant genre and it stars in a series of paintings wherein the painter displays his imagination in order to develop plots based on the main motif of these paintings: the woman. Some examples are ''En la Ribera'', ''La nieta de la Trini'', ''Ofrenda al arte torero'', ''Naranjas y Limones'' and ''Contrariedad''. The rest of the exhibition shows the portraits of the actress Marichu Begoña, inseparable from the author and depicted as the goddess of the hunt Diana with the greyhound Pacheco, ''a''nd the Sevillian artist Conchita Triana; the facial expression studies he performed with his last model in Córdoba (María Teresa López) in ''Bendición'', ''La niña de la Jarra'', ''Carmen'', ''Ángeles'' y ''Mujer de Córdoba'' and, finally, his own bronze bust, crafted by

Mariano Benlliure Mariano Benlliure y Gil (8 September 18629 November 1947) was a Spanish sculptor and medallist, who executed many public monuments and religious sculptures in Spain, working in a heroic realist style. Life and works He was born in the Lower St ...

in 1931. File:La chiquita piconera by Julio Romero de Torres.jpg, '' The coal little Girl'' (1930). File:Conchita Triana by Julio Romero de Torres.JPG, ''Conchita Triana'' (1924). File:La argentinita by Julio Romero de Torres.JPG, ''The little Argentinian'' (1915).

Exhibition Hall 4

Romero de Torres was essentially a portrait painter. He painted political and literary figures as well as more social celebrities: he carried out more than five hundred portraits. The Cordoban ministers of Justice and Defence, Antonio Barroso y Castillo and Diego Muñoz-Cobos y Serrano; the socialist deputy Margarita Nelken; the writer Cristóbal de Castro, from

Iznájar Iznájar is a town and municipal area in the province of Córdoba in Andalucia, southern Spain. Located at , it lies on the Genil river approximately 110 km from the provincial capital of Córdoba very close to the borders with both Mála ...

, and the Sevillian poet Joaquín Alcaida Zafra appear in this hall's portraits. Countless were the orders he received from high society ladies: Concepción Ruíz Frías, wife of the minister Natalio Rivas Santiago; María Aguilar or the countess of Colomera, Magdalena Muñoz-Cobos, dressed as the queen of 1930 Floral Games in an unfinished portrait. Elena Pardo, one of his favourite models, is the protagonist of two studies, ''Mary Luz'' and ''Marta'', which are part of the group the artist named as ''Chiquitas buenas.''

Exhibition Hall 5

The mystical work of Julio Romero, a combination of religiosity and paganism, is gathered in this room in a series of paintings influenced by the Baroque painters of the 17th century Antonio del Castillo and Valdés Leal. His unique understanding of evangelical and biblical passages acquires a profane sensuality that leads to his personal interpretations of the Magdalene, Salome or the Archangel Saint Raphael. The painting ''Virgin of the Lanterns'' was commissioned by the City Council. It was placed on an altar on the north wall of the

Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba ( es, Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba), officially known by its ecclesiastical name, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption ( es, Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción), is the cathedral of the Roman C ...

for years until it was moved to the Museum for safety reasons. Other examples of this theme, that are totally out of his line of work, are ''Death of Saint Ines''; a painting that was adapted to a front of the altar with miniaturized scenes about the life and martyrdom of the saint, it also was her mother's favourite painting, so he never wanted to cast it off. More examples are ''Cabeza de santa'' and ''Amor místico''. This Exhibition Hall also houses one of his most important works, ''Poem of Cordoba'', a seven-part polyptych in which he honours the different cultures of the city and which focuses on Saint Raphael, thereby signifying his admiration for the custodian of Cordoba.

Exhibition Hall 6

It is home to the greatest compositions: ''Our Lady of Andalusia'', that represents the embodiment of dance, singing and Andalusian flamenco divinized in Andalusian women; and ''El pecado'', that is considered one of the best nude paintings of the 20th century painting. The painter's great passion for flamenco led him to bring themes of this genre to his paintings. For example, ''Alegrías'', an allegorical scene of dance depicted in a majestic way; and ''Cante Hondo'', a painting where love, passion and death become plastic reality. In his painting ''Nocturno'', he reflects the harsh reality of exclusion. The sublime portraits of Ysolina Gallego, the Basque painter Zubiaurre's wife, and of Socorro Miranda as ''Holiness flower''. The mystery of ''Ángeles y Fuensanta'' and the ''Sybil of Alpujarra'' is one of the many themes offered by

' work. File:Nuestra Señora de Andalucía by Julio Romero de Torres.JPG, '' Our Lady of Andalusia'' (1907). File:Alegrías by Julio Romero de Torres.jpg, ''Alegrías'' (1917). File:Ángeles y Fuensanta by Julio Romero de Torres.JPG, ''Ángeles y Fuensanta'' (1909). File:Boceto para el retrato de Ysolina Gallego.JPG, ''Boceto para el retrato de Ysolina Gallego'' (1910).

Works of art

* Alegrías * Amor místico * Ángeles * Ángeles y Fuensanta * Arcángel San Rafael * Bendición * Boceto de Ysolina Gallego * Cabeza de santa * Cabeza de vieja * Cabeza empezada * Cabeza sin terminar * Camino de bodas * Cante hondo * Carmen * Cartel corrida benéfica de toros * Cecilia Roballo * Concepción Magacén * Concepción Ruiz Frías * Conchita Triana * Contrariedad * Córdoba 1912 * Córdoba 1916 * Diana * El cohete * El pecado * En la ribera * Encendiendo la mecha * Writer Cristóbal de Castro * Eva * Holiness flower * Fragmento de un retrato * Fuensanta * Horacio de Castro Carboné * Hours of distress * Isabel Llopis de Luque * The little Argentinian * La chiquita buena * The coal little Girl * Countess of colomera * Andalusian Folk Music * La escopeta de caza * La gracia * Death of Saint Ines * Trini's Granddaughter * Girl of the pitcher * La niña de la rosa * Girl with oil lamp * Sibyl of Alpujarra * Virgin of the Lanterns * Magdalena * Manuel Ruiz Maya * Margarita Nelken * María de la O * María Pilar * Marta * Mary Luz * Ministro Barroso y Castillo * Look how pretty she was! * Monjit * Mujer de Córdoba * Woman with Pistol * Oranges and lemons * Nieves * Nocturno * Our Lady of Andalusia * An offering to the art of bullfighting * Poem of Cordoba * Poeta Joaquín Alcaide Zafra * Rafaela * Retrato Amalia Romero de Torres * Retrato don José Antonio Gómez * Retrato joven * Retrato María Aguilar * Retrato Ysolina Gallego * Rosarillo * Salomé * Salud * Samaritan Woman * Tte. General Diego Muñoz Cobos y Serrano * Long Live Hair

Address and hours

Plaza del Potro, 1 Hours * Monday closed: except those established in the collective bargaining agreement. * From Tuesday to Friday: from 08:30 to 20:45. * Saturday: from 08:30 to 16:30. * Sunday and public holidays: from 09:30 to 14:30.

References

External links

Web del Museo Julio Romero de Torres
{{coord, 37.88133, -4.77485, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:ES, display=title Art museums and galleries in Spain Biographical museums in Spain Museums in Andalusia Buildings and structures in Córdoba, Spain Museums established in 1931 Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Córdoba (Spain) Romero de Torres