JULIO VILA Y PRADES (Valencia, 1873 - Barcelona, 1930).Portrait of a lady.Oil on canvas.It has a

JULIO VILA Y PRADES (Valencia, 1873 - Barcelona, 1930).
"Portrait of a lady.
Oil on canvas.
It has a label on the back from the Galería Jorge Juan (Madrid).
It has repainting and restorations.
Measurements: 140 x 74 cm; 151 x 86 cm (frame).
A neutral background focuses the attention of the spectator on the figure, while the colouring animates the face framed by the dark hair of the young woman, dressed with a white shawl embroidered with red flowers and a red dress whose flounces in the lower area infuse dynamism to the figure. The woman stands with a haughty gesture and a certain grace reflected in the mischievous expression on her face. This type of work was very common and appreciated in Spanish art from the 19th century until well into the 20th century. In which the creation of popular patterns portrayed through an idyllic vision where the author is influenced by a romantic aesthetic and heritage, developed during the second half of the 19th century and which derived in a localist conception of the landscape, in works that reflected the love for one's own land and the beauty and lyricism of the everyday, the close and the familiar.
Julio Vila Prades trained at the San Carlos School of Fine Arts in Valencia, where his teachers were Joaquín Agrasot, Juan Peyró and Francisco Domingo Marqués. After completing his studies he moved to Madrid, where he attended Joaquín Sorolla's studio between 1893 and 1904. He regularly took part in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts in the capital, winning honourable mentions in 1892 and 1897 and a second medal in 1904. The son-in-law of José Artal, the great promoter of Spanish painting in Buenos Aires, he travelled to Argentina in 1904. From there he visited various Latin American countries, where he received commissions for decorative painting such as the ceilings for the Tigery Club in Buenos Aires, the government palace in Tucumán and the Mar de Plata Club. During these years he also painted numerous portraits of personalities of the time. On his return to Spain in 1921, he decorated the ceiling of the Gran Kursaal in San Sebastián. He also worked as an illustrator and poster designer, particularly for Anís Fígaro, the Valencia July Fair (1900 and 1906). Julio Vila Prades is currently represented in the Prado Museum, the Fine Arts Museum of Huelva, the National Fine Arts Museums of Buenos Aires and Havana, the Municipal de Arte Tigre in Buenos Aires, the Historical and Military Museum of Chile, Valencia City Hall and the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastian, among others.