Artwork information

Category

Drawing

Technique

Watercolour and brown wash on paper

Date

1936

Dimensions

27.4 cm x 22.4 cm

Signature

Signed lower left

State of conservation

Very good state of conservation and the framing is recent.

Framing

Yes

Location

Paris, France

Description

This drawing represents the church of Saint-Martin de Beaudéan, a village located in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in France. The artist chose to use wash and watercolour to make this view. In the background you can see a beautiful mountain, the village is situated near the Pic du Midi.

The drawing is dated and located "Beaudéan, 22 juin 36" at the bottom left. The dimensions taken into account are those of the sheet only.

Provenance

This drawing comes from one of the artist's sketchbooks. The artist's coat of arms is reproduced on the back of the work. This coat of arms was on the drawing book from which this sheet came. The current owner decided to have it framed to be able to enjoy it fully.

Bibliography

• "El Toreo de hoy", preface of Camille Mauclair, Éditions de la bonne idée, 1928
• "Boletín de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. Segundo semestre de 1990. Número 71. El legado Barón de Forna". Victoria Durá and Elena Rivera Navarro.

Exhibition(s)

The artist

Painter
Drawer

José de la Peña

Born in 1887
Spain

Bio

José de la Peña (1887-1961) is a Spanish painter from a noble family of Valencia. He was born in Madrid in 1887 and was Spanish ambassador in Venezuela.

He is mainly known for his representations of bullfighting. Camille Mauclair described José de la Peña as a modest man who was in admiration of Franscico de Goya and who left an important pictorial testimony about bullfighting. 

Camille Mauclair even described his art on bullfighting in 1928 : "these paintings where everything is life and movement, where a broad and firm execution, in a fat and supple paste, models by vigorous shots, in full light, the forms of man and animal, removing all the superfluous, showing only what can be seen from a distance, struggling with speed and intense touch safety with which, more often than not, appears only a furious tangle of shadows and violent colors, and yet has, in this great isolation of the arena, the powerful density of the sculpture."

In 1910, the artist went to Paris where he became friends with artists such as Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, Maurice Utrillo or Zuloaga. He is considered one of the most talented Spanish painters of his generation. 

In 1920, José de la Peña moved to the Villa Fortuna in Anglet. Upon his death in 1961, he bequeathed his entire studio collection to the city of Anglet.

The artist is presented in the most important Spanish museums for his works on the themes of bullfighting and the horse.

Other artworks by José de la Peña

See all artworks by José de la Peña