Martín Rico Ortega

MARTÍN RICO ORTEGA (El Escorial, Madrid, 1833 - Venice, 1908).
"Venetian Canal.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Size: 35 x 23 cm; 51,5 x 40 cm (frame).
In this composition of vertical format, a Venetian canal welcomes the infinite chromatic shades that are conjugated in its vibrant surface. The reflections of the old manor houses and the shadows of the gondolas coincide in it, while it dialogues with a clear sky. Venetian views were one of Martín Rico's favourite themes. It shows a clear influence of approaches that emerged thanks to prominent pictorial avant-gardes such as Impressionism, particularly in the reflections of the water, and a certain reminiscence of Spanish Luminism.
Now considered the initiator of modern Spanish landscape painting, Martín Rico began his artistic training with his brother, the engraver Bernardo Rico, with whom he collaborated in the studio of his uncle Calixto Ortega, working as an illustrator. He then studied at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he was a pupil of Jenaro Pérez Villamil. At the Liceo in the capital he became friends with Fortuny, Rosales and Raimundo de Madrazo, and in 1854 he began a series of trips around Europe, which took him to France, Switzerland, England and Italy. In 1862 he was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies in Paris, where he had the opportunity to become acquainted with the work of Meissonier and Daubigny, in whose studio he began to work the following year. He was friends with some of the early Impressionists, such as Camille Pizarro, for example.
After travelling around several cities painting and holding exhibitions, especially in Paris, in 1873 he visited Venice for the first time, a city that captivated him and where he would eventually live for the rest of his life, alternating stays in the French capital. His Venetian landscapes became a model for his pupils and copyists. His views of Toledo, Seville, Granada and Paris were also famous. After taking part in the National Exhibitions of the 1970s, he did not exhibit again in his native country except at the Bosch Galleries, whose owner the painter considered to be the only valid dealer in Spain. He was a member of the commission for the Paris Universal Exhibitions of 1878 and 1889 and of the jury for the Chicago Exhibition of 1893. Appointed artistic director of the publication "Ilustración Española y Americana", his numerous awards at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878 included a silver medal and the title of Knight of the Legion of Honour, as well as another silver medal at the 1889 edition. He also took part in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he was awarded a third medal in 1860.
His work enjoyed great commercial success in Paris, where his clients included the American multimillionaire William Ibod Stewart, who owned several of his paintings in his collection. Throughout his oeuvre we can see an evolution from his initial Romantic vision, through a Realist stage, to a final style with certain Impressionist and Fortunyian influences. The influence of Turner and Ruysdael led him to paint increasingly humanised landscapes, and his relationship with Mariano Fortuny deepened this change towards more luminous and impressionistic paintings. Martín Rico's work is currently in the Museo del Prado and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid, the Metropolitan and Brooklyn museums and the Hispanic Society in New York, the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, the Bilbao and Valencia Museums of Fine Arts, among other collections.