ÁNGEL LIZCANO (Alcázar de San Juan, Ciudad Real,... Lot 19

ÁNGEL LIZCANO (Alcázar de San Juan, Ciudad Real, 1846 - Leganés, Madrid, 1929). El torero y la goyesca" ("The Bullfighter and the Goyesque"), 1908. Oil on canvas. With restorations. Signed and dated in the middle area. Measurements: 84 x 54,5 cm (x2). Pair of portraits that present the same pictorial conception, in which the two protagonists are represented in profile, but with their faces turned towards the spectator, directing their gaze towards him. Both figures are set against a neutral, dark background that emphasises their features and monumentalises their busts. In addition, the two figures, one male and one female, represent archetypes of Spanish society of the time through their clothing; the man as a bullfighter and the woman dressed as a Goyaesque. Ángel Lizcano entered the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid at the age of fourteen, where he was taught by Francisco Mendoza. During his years of apprenticeship he made numerous visits to the Prado Museum, where he made copies of the great masters. In 1869 he obtained a pension to complete his training in Italy. He travelled around Spain taking sketches from life and painting landscapes and genre scenes, specialising in majas and bullfighters. He also cultivated the historical genre in order to compete in the National Exhibitions, where he won third medals in 1876 and 1878, and second in 1881 and 1887. He took part in the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878 and also illustrated books and magazines. In 1929 he was admitted to the Leganés asylum, where he died shortly afterwards. He is represented in the Prado Museum and in the Fine Arts Museums of Oviedo, Seville, Valencia, Jaén and Alcázar de San Juan.