José Villegas y Cordero

Sevilla, 1844 - Madrid, 1921

He began his academic training at the Seville School of Fine Arts, where he was the disciple of Manuel Cabral Bejarano and Eduardo Cano. His first involvement in the Seville Exhibition of 1860 resulted in the sale of the canvas he presented, “La pequeña filósofa “(Little Philosopher Girl), for two thousand reales. Since the outset he earned the recognition and admiration of critics and public alike.

He lived in Madrid from 1866 to 1868. He trained there with Federico de Madrazo and, under his supervision, made daily visits to the Prado Museum to analyse and copy the work of Velázquez and Titian. At his maestro's studio he made friends with Eduardo Rosales and Mariano Fortuny, who were then also in the capital. After leaving Madrid, he visited Morocco and was deeply inspired for many of his later works: “Pelea de gallos “(Cockfight), “La sultana infiel“ (Unfaithful Sultana), “La lección del Corán “(Lesson in the Koran), etc.

In 1868 he moved to Rome. There he attended classes at the Chigi Academy and resumed his friendships of Madrid, entering Rosales’s studio. His production during the first few years in Italy comprised typically Spanish scenes, “Toreros en la capilla de la plaza“ (Bullfighter’s in Chapel) and “El descanso de la cuadrilla“ (Bullfighter’s Team Resting), as well as costumbrista paintings, Los monaguillos (Alter Boys), Un bautizo en Sevilla (Christening in Seville), Leñadora romana (Roman Wood-Gatherer), etc. The singular skill of his compositions made him the most sought-after and popular artists among merchants and collectors since 1876.

1877 marked the beginning of his long stays in Venice, an unending source of inspiration for his oils and watercolours in multiple compositions of views of the City of Canals: “El canal de Zatera“ (The Zattere), “El puente de la Plagia“ (Ponte Della Plagia) etc. He gradually left behind historical representations “La última entrevista entre don Juan de Austria y Felipe II“ (Last Meeting between Don Juan de Austria and Philip II) and “La Paz de las Damas“ (The Peace of Ladies) were the last ones to cultivate, almost exclusively, the technique of watercolour painting.

At the time his studio was being visited by new Andalusian artists such as Pinelo, Gallegos Arnosa, Sánchez Barbudo and Gonzalo Bilbao, and on whom Villegas also had some influence.

Together with Rosales and Fortuny, he is considered to be one of the most distinguished Spanish painters from the Rome School. His last great successes there were “La muerte del maestro“ (Death of the Master) and “El triunfo de la dogaresa“ (Triumph of the Dogaressa), works which took him more than ten years to complete and which earned him the grand gold medal of the State of Austria.

He was appointed director of the Spanish Fine Arts Academy of Rome in 1898. In 1901 he revolutionised the management of the Prado Museum with innovations such as rearranging collections by maestros and schools and freeing-up the central gallery. In 1903 he was appointed director of the Museum of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts. His master class there, “The Current State of Confusion in the Arts“, was widely echoed by artistic circles of the time.

In his latter years he made portraits of popular personalities such as King Alfonso XIII (1902), Doña Luz Ojeda (1910) and Pastora Imperio (1913). His special contribution to the UEE Collection came in 1915 with “El viejo y el nuevo año“ (The Old Man and the New Year), a metaphorical scene, very much to the bourgeois taste, symbolising the passing of the year. His facet as an illustrator had already earned him prestige through his participation alongside other famous European painters in the compilation of an edition of the Holy Bible.

At the turn of the century, always attentive to the latest advances in painting, he had evolved from the tradition of Fortuny to modernism. He composed the twelve paintings of “Decálogo de la Vida“ (Decalogue of Life), his masterpiece on show at the Seville Museum of Fine Art, in the modernist style.

1915 José Villegas y Cordero The old Man and the New Year Oil on canvas 60,50 x 36,50 cm.