Eduardo Sánchez Solá

EDUARDO SANCHÉZ SOLÁ (Madrid, 1869 - Granada, 1949).
"Gypsy".
Oil on canvas.
Preserves period frame.
Signed and dedicated in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 70 x 50 cm; 85 x 65 cm (frame).
We see in this work a scene of costumbrista approach, starring a young gypsy. It is a composition that combines the portrait with the costumbrista genre, so in vogue in the Spanish painting of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. The woman has been represented in bust format, in a casual and natural attitude, with her hair slightly tousled, gathered with several flowers. The clarity of the neutral background contrasts with the boldness of the color with which the artist has configured the model, highlighting the features of the young woman, whose face hints at a soft smile.
Sánchez Solá trained at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts, where his teachers were Alejandro Ferrant and Luis Taberner. Later he was a professor at the School of Arts and Crafts in Granada, and a contributor to the art magazine "La Ilustración Española y Americana". He participated assiduously in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts, being awarded with honorable mention in 1895; medal of third class in 1897 for the canvas "Tristes noticias" and in 1899 for "El destete"; decoration in 1901 and honorable mention in Decorative Art in 1904. He also exhibited in the Regional of Modern Art of Granada, in the one of the Artistic Center in 1942 and in the one of Linares in 1943. Sánchez Solá specialized in oil paintings where he reflected scenes of games of the altar boys of the time, in the interior of Andalusian churches. In them, the artist was able to capture the expressiveness and movement of the children, who generally appear concentrated in a game. That is why he is known as "the painter of the altar boys", preserving works of this genre such as "Short and tight", "Do what you want", "Mischief", etc. He was also known as a painter of portraits and landscapes. Sánchez Solá is currently represented in the Prado Museum and the Provincial Museum of Lugo, as well as in several private collections.