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

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

.Museo Julio Romero
/ref> His brothers,

Rafael Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

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 The Fine Arts Museum of Córdoba ( es, Museo de Bellas Artes de Córdoba) is a State-owned art museum located in the Spanish city of Córdoba. History Similarly to most art museums in Spain, its creation ensued after the 1835 '' desamortizació ...

. When he was only 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 ''. 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 , in 1897, he was unsuccessful. The following year, his brother Rafael died, aged only thirty-three. He also 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 also travelled extensively, visiting Italy, France, England and the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. 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. 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 heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

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

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

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 Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña (in Vilanova de Arousa, Galicia, Spain, 28 October 1866 – Santiago de Compostela, 5 January 1936) was a Spanish dramatist, novelist and member of the Spanish Generation of 98. He is considered per ...

, 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 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. It is located in the building of the old Hospi ...

at his former residence in Córdoba houses examples of his works, as well as works by

Francisco Zurbarán Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

Alejo Fernández Alejo Fernández (c. 1475 – c. 1545) was a Spanish painter best known for his portrait of Christopher Columbus painted between 1531 and 1536. Biography He was born in Córdoba. Here, influenced by the style of the Flemish masters, he stud ...

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 ...

and

Valdés Leal Valdez or Valdés may refer to: People * Valdez (surname) *Valdés (surname) * Valdez (Brazilian footballer) (born 1943), Brazilian footballer * Valdez “Val” Demings, U.S. politician Geography *Valdés, Asturias, Spain *Valdez, Alaska, United ...

. 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 Project.jpg, The ''

Venus of Poetry ''Venus of Poetry'' ( es, La Venus de la poesía) is an oil painting by the Spanish artist Julio Romero de Torres, painted in 1913, and now exhibited at the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. Its dimensions are 93.2 × 154 cm. This painting is an allego ...

'' 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''

References

Sources

Ramón Pérez de Ayala Ramón Pérez de Ayala y Fernández del Portal (9 August 1880, in Oviedo – 5 August 1962, in Madrid) was a Spanish writer. He was the Spanish ambassador to England in London (1931-1936) and voluntarily exiled himself to Argentina via Fr ...

, "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 People from Córdoba, Spain