Valeriano Domínguez Bécquer, (15 December 1833 – 23 September 1870) was a Spanish painter and graphic artist, who often worked in the

costumbrismo ''Costumbrismo'' (sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily in the Hispanic scene, and particularly in the 19t ...

style.Brief biography
@ the Gran Enciclopèdia CatalanaBrief biography
@ the Museo del Prado

Biography

He was born in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. His father,

José Domínguez Bécquer José María Domínguez Insausti, better known as José Domínguez Bécquer (22 January 1805, Seville - 28 January 1841, Seville) was a Spanish painter in the Costumbrismo style. He was the father of the famous poet, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, and ...

, was also a painter and his younger brother was the poet

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida (17 February 1836 – 22 December 1870), better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (), was a Spanish Romantic poet and writer (mostly short stories), also a playwright, literary columnist, and talented ...

. His first art lessons came from his father, who died when Valeriano was only eight. Afterwards, he was raised by his mother's family and took lessons from his uncle Joaquín Domínguez Bécquer, assisting in his workshop until 1853. Later, he also studied with

Antonio Cabral Bejarano Antonio Cabral Bejarano (31 October 1798 – 1 August 1861) was a Spanish painter, considered to be an adherent of both the Europe-wide Romantic painting and the specifically Hispanic painting school of Costumbrismo. His ancestors for several ear ...

. His brief marriage to the daughter of an Irish seaman failed in 1862, after producing two children, and he followed his brother to Madrid. In 1865, he received a government commission to paint scenes of festivals, costumes and customs from the various Spanish regions, which resulted in several years of travelling. The project was left unfinished, however, when the Glorious Revolution resulted in the grant for his commission being withdrawn. To supplement his income, he worked as a cartoonist and illustrator for several publications, including ''

La Ilustración Española y Americana ''La Ilustración Española y Americana'' was a weekly Spanish magazine that was published from 1869 to 1921 on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 30th of every month. It was also published biweekly. History The magazine was a continuation of ''El Museo Un ...

'' and ''El Museo Universal'', often in conjunction with Gustavo. A series of pornographic satirical drawings, ''Los Borbones en Pelota'' (playing in private), by "SEM" have been attributed to him and his brother, but some researchers believe they are actually the work of Francisco Ortego Vereda, a radical opponent of the Royalists. They were privately distributed at first, and not published until 1991.Listing
@ the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. He died of liver disease in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, aged 36, just three months before his brother. In fact, Gustavo's death may have been hastened by this event, as he fell into a deep depression afterward and his health had always been fragile. Valeriano's portrait of Gustavo was used on the 100 Peseta Spanish banknote from 1965 to 1970 and was the model for a memorial bust in

Maria Luisa Park Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, d ...

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Bécquer.Biography and appreciation
@ MCN Biografías. {{DEFAULTSORT:Becquer, Valeriano 1833 births 1870 deaths People from Seville Spanish illustrators 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters

Biography

References

Further reading

External links