Lot 95
Spanish, Eduardo Leon Garrido, 1856-1949, signed upper left, oil on canvas. A Portrait of a Spanish Lady with a Fan ca. 19th century CE. A portrait of a Spanish elite dama dressed in traditional lace, bedecked with jeweled earrings and rings, and holding a fan. The sitter is presented in 3/4 length, and Garrido has captured the perfect composition to communicate the lady's high status, focusing on la dama's beautiful face, curled coiffure, graceful and finely manicured hands, luxurious lace gown and mantilla painted in pale blue and white hues with an open fan painted in luscious pale pinks. Size: painting itself measures 24" (61 cm) x 19-3/8" (49.2 cm), framed 34-3/4" (88.3 cm) x 30-3/4" (78.1 cm).
Garrido was a society painter who specialized in portraying elegant ladies of the era of the 'Belle Époque'. While born in Madrid, he lived and worked in Paris and exhibited on a regular basis at the Paris Salon as well as in Munich and Madrid. This charming portrait of an elegante holding a fan was painted in an au premier coup also known as alla prima (wet-on-wet) style, in which layers of wet paint were applied to previous layers of wet paint creating a layered glazed effect. This technique, inspired by Diego Velasquez and also practiced by one of Garrido's best known contemporaries, the American ex-patriate artist John Singer Sargent, made it possible for the artist to depict life-like veristic visages as well as myriad textures; note the lady's supple, dewy skin, her liquidy eyes and shiny hair, as well as the gauzy and soft lace of her garments. The palette shows strong contrasts of light and dark values, which also follows the dramatic manner of the Velasquez. This is a fine portrait, and is typical of the best work of this highly collectable artist. This painting follows in a long tradition of portraits depicting elite women with fans. Among the most well-known paintings of this genre are Diego Velasquez's Portrait of Lady with Fan (1640-1642), John Singer Sargent's Italian Girl with Fan (1882), Rembrandt van Rijn's Portrait of a Lady with an Ostrich Feather Fan (ca. 1656-1658), and Gustav Klimt's Lady with Fan (1917). Fans were a luxury that signified the sitter's high societal status. In ancient Rome fans were called "flabellum". Created with a long handle, they required special slaves called "flabellifers" who specialized in the art of waving the fans gracefully and delicately. Chinese folding fans were luxurious articles brought to Portugal with Marco Polo expeditions along the Great Silk Road in the 14th century, although the height of their popularity rose within the Renaissance time period. Some fans were so luxurious that they became the stuff of legends. Madame de Pompadour owned a fan that was made of paper and meticulously cut to imitate lace and painted with miniatures. According to lore, it took nine years of labor and £6000 to create. The 16th century Duchess of Mantua supposedly had a fan that was decorated with rare emeralds. According to scholars, when the Duchess needed money, she offered it as collateral to a Milan bank. Hence, it is understandable that E.L. Garrido's Spanish lady holds her fan with pride! Provenance: Ex-Ramon Kelley private collection, Denver, CO, acquired at Bonham's New York, Lot 75, auction 21800: 19th Century European Paintings (November 5, 2014). All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. #108592
- Condition: Intact and near choice condition for both painting and frame. Some linear markings on canvase from previous framing. Minor fissures to stretcher bars and minor nicks to frame.
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