19th Century European Paintings Including German, Austrian and Central EuropeanPaintings, The Orientalist Sale, Spanish Painting and the Scandinavian SaleLondon | 2 Jun 2010, 2:30 PM | L10101

LOT 189

PROPERTY FROM THE URIARTE Y PIÑEIRO COLLECTION

JULIO ROMERO DE TORRESSPANISH 1874 - 1930ESCLAVA (THE SLAVE)

signed JULIO ROMERO / DE TORRES lower right; signed on the reverseoil and tempera on canvas

83.8 by 62.2cm., 33 by 24.5in.

ESTIMATE 30,000 - 40,000 GBP

PROVENANCEArturo Uriarte y Piñeiro (purchased directly from the artist in 1930)Museo Nacional de Belles Artes, Buenos Aires (bequeathed by the above, 1941)Returned to the descendants of the Uriarte y Piñeiro family, 1991; thence by descent to the present owner

EXHIBITIONSeville, Pabellón de Córdoba, Exposición Iberamericana, 1930

LITERATUREPedro Massa, Julio Romero de Torres, Buenos Aires, 1947 Mercedes Valverde Candil &Ana María Piriz Salgado,Catálogo del museo Julio Romero de Torres, Córdoba, 1989, p. 48, illustrated

CATALOGUE NOTEPainted circa 1925-29, the sitter for the present work was the actress Elena Pardo. A regular performer at theRomea theatre in Madrid, Elena was Romero de Torres' preferred model during the 1920s. Other paintings forwhich she sat included Cordobesa, Humo y Azar, La niña de los limones, En el patio, Pensativa, La Guitarra and LaNiña Torera, all of which are in private collections. Works in the Museo Romero de Torres in which she appearsinclude Mary Luz, En la Ribera, Marta and Nocturno.

Elena Pardo's figure embodied to perfection the archetype that Coco Chanel promoted internationally - the classicimage of the modern 1920s pin-up with a greased bob hairstyle 'comme les garçons'. Accordingly Romero deTorres transformed Elena Pardo into the muse of the Deco style, promoted within Spain by such magazines asBlanco y Negro and La Esfera.

Esclava was one of twenty-seven works selected by the artist for his retrospective exhibition celebrating his life'swork mounted in the Córdoba Pavilion at the Ibéromerican Exhibition, Seville in 1930.

AUTHENTICATIONWe are grateful to Sra. Dña. Mercedes Valverde for her assistance in the cataloguing of this work.