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"Explores the early works of seventeenth-century Spanish painter Diego Velâazquez. Focuses on works from 1617 to 1623, examining the painter's critical engagement with the artistic, religious, and social practices of his native Seville"--Provided by publisher.
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez (1599-1660) is widely recognized as both the supreme exponent of the Spanish Golden Age and as one of the greatest artists of all time. During his lifetime, he was admired not only at the cosmopolitan court of King Philip IV in Madrid, but also by the imperial court in Vienna and the papal court in Rome. Rediscovered in the 19th century, his work became an essential stimulus to the development of modern painting. Fernando Checa's monograph recasts the traditional critical reception of Velazquez as a Realist master, exploring other avenues of interpretation by examining his relationship with Classicism and with the most progressive trends in painting in his day. At the heart of the book is the color catalogue, which includes Velazquez's entire oeuvre with numerous details.
All throughout his fruitful career, Velázquez painted the powerful just as well as the ordinary Spanish people. His body of work bears the imprint of realism worthy of the greatest Flemish masters of the period, and despite outside influences, he undeniably succeeded in developing his own artistic principles. Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) is one of the world’s most famous artists. Representative of 17th-century European painting, he worked for the Spanish court and for the most important personalities, completing numerous portraits. In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, passionate about the human figure, his oeuvreofhis long artistic career of more than forty yearsalso encompasses representations of daily life in the taverns of Spain. Considered the father of Spanish painting, Velázquez inspired entire generations of artists who followed him, including Picasso, Dalí, and Bacon. His mysterious painting Las Meninas, which contains the essence of his work, is still today an inexhaustible source for writing and research.
WINNER OF THE JAMES TAIT BLACK BIOGRAPHY PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION Selected as a Book of the Year in the Herald In 1845, a Reading bookseller named John Snare came across the dirt-blackened portrait of a prince at a country house auction. Suspecting that it might be a long-lost Velázquez, he bought the picture and set out to discover its strange history - a quest that led from fame to ruin and exile. Fusing detection and biography, this book shows how and why great works of art can affect us, even to the point of mania. And on the trail of John Snare, Cumming makes a surprising discovery of her own. But most movingly, The Vanishing Man is an eloquent and passionate homage to the Spanish master Velázquez, bringing us closer to the creation and appreciation of his works than ever before.
The Lives of Velázquez brings together two seminal early accounts of the great seventeenth-century Spanish painter (ca. 1599–1660). These texts, written by his contemporaries Francisco Pacheco and Antonio Palomino and newly translated for this volume, serve as our main sources of knowledge about this groundbreaking artist. Pacheco’s biography reveals the scale of the challenge to traditional painting presented by Velázquez’s immense talent. Palomino’s text, while precise and detailed in its narrative of the artist’s life, also tackles the aesthetic debate generated by the painter’s choice of subject matter and style. An engaging introduction by art historian Michael Jacobs situates the historical texts in the context of Spain’s Golden Age.