José Moreno Carbonero

JOSÉ MORENO CARBONERO (Málaga, 1860 - Madrid, 1942).
"Waterwoman".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 48 x 68,5 cm; 85 x 101 x 8 cm.
Under a clear sky, a young water carrier poses smiling in front of the portrait painter. As if it were a photographic snapshot, the girl has been captured in a spontaneous attitude. She is set in an arid landscape of scrub and wild foliage, skilfully rendered with small, skilful touches to extract tonal qualities and nuances. The village church looms in the distance, placing us on the outskirts of a small Andalusian village.
Moreno Carbonero, now considered the last of the great 19th-century history painters, began his training with the painter Bernardo Ferrándiz and at the San Telmo School of Fine Arts in Malaga. In 1873 he made a trip to Morocco, where he painted Orientalist themes in the manner of Fortuny. In 1875 the Malaga provincial council awarded him a grant to travel to Paris, where he entered the studio of Jean-Léon Gérome and became acquainted with the famous art dealer Adolphe Goupil. In 1881 he moved to Rome on a scholarship. Throughout his career he received official commissions such as those from the Spanish Senate (1888) and the Argentinean government (1910). He was also professor of life drawing at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, of which he later became an academician. He submitted works to numerous exhibitions and competitions, winning prizes such as the gold medal at the Liceo Exhibition in Malaga in 1872 and, at the National Exhibitions, third medal in 1876, second in 1878 and first in 1881 and 1884, as well as a decoration in 1899. In 1888 he won the top prize at the Vatican Exhibition and took part in the International Exhibitions in Munich and Vienna. He also received other prizes abroad, such as a second medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1889, a large gold medal at the Budapest International Exhibition of 1890, a diploma of honour at the Berlin Universal Exhibition of 1891 and a single medal at the Chicago Universal Exhibition of 1893. His individual exhibitions include three tribute exhibitions held at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid, the Sociedad de Amigos del Arte and the Agrupación Artística de Castro Gil. He is represented in the Prado Museum, the High General Staff in Madrid, the University of Santiago de Compostela, the Spanish Consulate in Paris, the Provincial Fine Arts Museum in Malaga, and the Fine Arts Museums of Salamanca, Seville and Jaen.