Antonio Reyna

ANTONIO REYNA MANESCAU, (Coín, Málaga, 1859 - Rome, 1937).
"Venice".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 38,5 x 75 cm; 60 x 97 cm (frame).

Captivating painting by Antonio Reyna, in which the author dialogues with the precision and detail of Canaletto's vedutti, but goes beyond a classic veduta. With the compositional and plastic skill that characterizes the Andalusian painter, he introduces an emotional and atmospheric sensibility, focused on light, movement and the interaction between the urban landscape and everyday life. The gondola in the foreground and the other boats plying the canal convey the constant activity of the city, while the buildings in the background (the Doge's Palace, the Campanile and other emblematic, majestic and immortal architectures) anchor the work in a physical and at the same time mythical space, sublimated by art. The arrangement of the elements creates depth and guides the gaze from the rippling waters of light and soft cadence to the iconic buildings that dominate the skyline and are described in detail, with their double porticoed loggias, lancet arches, tracery of oculi on limestone, etc.

Nowadays considered one of the most important Andalusian landscape painters of the 19th century, Antonio Reyna began his training at the School of Fine Arts in Malaga, where his teachers were Joaquín Martínez de la Vega and Bernardo Ferrándiz. From a very young age he exhibited his works regularly, standing out in the local artistic environment for his colorful, attractive compositions and the ease of his brushstroke. In 1882 he obtained a pension from the Diputación de Málaga to further his studies in Italy. After his trip to Italy, Rome became Reyna's place of residence, and he stayed there to live forever. In Rome he frequented, like so many other Spaniards, Villegas, and influenced to a certain extent by the work of this painter, Reyna worked on some oriental and "casacón" themes, the latter of exquisite workmanship and refined chromatic variety. At the same time, as a member of the Spanish colony, he participated in the gatherings of the Café Greco. Although his habitual residence was in the Italian capital, the artist traveled several times to Venice, from where in 1885 he painted a view of the Grand Canal, and in 1887 he created abundant "vedute" paintings of the city. His painting, treated from a perspective of a certain picturesqueness, is focused on the realization, in small formats, of urban landscapes, repeating them on many occasions with minimal variations. Venice was at that time one of the major centers of attraction for Spaniards thanks to the influence of the master Fortuny and the weight of the Venetian production of Villegas, adding also the effect of the summer stays of Martin Rico, whose precious landscapes were transmitted to Reyna. In 1887, a missing canvas of large proportions, entitled "Floralia", gave him a third class medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts, being considered at the time as the best painting of the painter. In 1910, on the occasion of his mother's death, Reyna spent some time in his hometown. There he was inspired to create another of his most celebrated paintings, the canvas "Rancho Andaluz", which he showed at the International Exhibition of Fine Arts in Rome the following year. Some years before, in 1895, the queen regent Maria Cristina had granted him the cross of knight of the order of Carlos III, associating the fact to the realization of some over doors that later passed to the Ateneo of Madrid, although apparently they are not now in that whereabouts. Reyna also exported his work to London, especially his Venetian views. He also held regular exhibitions in Rome, showing among other works two portraits of Pope Benedict XV, which demonstrate his expertise in this genre. In his painting, certainly novel for the time, the painter always showed his skill in drawing, as well as an innate ability for composition, marked by the boldness of his brushstrokes and a great chromatic richness. On December 5, 2009, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Antonio Reyna's birth, a large anthological exhibition of his work was inaugurated at the García Agüera Foundation in Malaga. Currently, Antonio Reyna has a museum with his name in Coín, and is also represented in the Diputación de Málaga, the Fine Arts Museums of Málaga and Boston, the Carmen Thyssen of Málaga and in the art gallery of the Vatican Museums, although most of his work is in the hands of individuals, having verified the presence of his paintings in France, England, Switzerland and Holland.