Tomás Yepes

TOMÁS YEPES (Valencia, ca. 1610-1674).
"Still life".
Oil on canvas. Re-coloured.
Attached report issued by the historian Don José Gómez Frechina.
It presents restorations.
Measurements: 62,5 x 82,5 cm; 77 x 97 cm (frame).
In this work Hiepes offers us a still life of dynamic and scenographic character, typically baroque, in which a typically Spanish base is combined with an Italian influence characteristic of the Valencian school of the baroque. This school was greatly influenced by the tenebrism of Caravaggio in the 17th century, as Italian paintings destined for the royal collections arrived in Spain via the port of Valencia. This work combines the compositional dynamism of the full Baroque with a chromatic and luminous treatment directly derived from Caravaggio. The bright, anti-classical tones of the flowers, among which pink and red stand out, are joined by a whole series of earthy, ochre and carmine colours that form the basis of the Caravaggesque palette, constituting an interesting visual counterpoint. With regard to the general structure, this is a work that clearly belongs to the Spanish Baroque period.
Tomás Hiepes is currently considered the most outstanding still-life painter of the Valencian Baroque, and in fact he is responsible for the greatest interest in this genre in the Valencian sphere. Although he was born around 1610, Hiepes began his artistic production in the second half of the century and continued to work until the 1970s, although his painting does not show any major stylistic changes throughout his production. In his work we can appreciate a search for geometry and symmetry through the composition of the flowers, which he arranges in a radial manner, in the manner of the early Spanish Baroque, as we can see in this canvas. His aesthetic language is characterised by several features that can be seen in this work. These include the importance of naturalism, a detailed and precise technique, especially visible in the qualities of the objects, a mainly warm, typically Valencian colour range, the influence of the Neapolitan still life in the brightness and sumptuousness of some elements and a certain tenebrist character in the lighting. With regard to the biographical information on Tomás Hiepes, there is no extensive bibliography that can establish his entire artistic career. It is known that his works were signed between 1642 and 1674, the year of his death. His works are currently held in various private collections and important art centres, including the Museo del Prado, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Valencia and the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, among other public and private collections.