Luis Meléndez Still Lifes

‘Tis the season to eat berries! It’s probably my single favorite thing about summer—the produce—especially fruit. This year I find myself generally smitten with cherries, but my passion extends over many species. Last week I swooned over some raspberries I had the pleasure of picking right off the vine. And nothing compares to watermelon in humidity like this.

In wanting to pay homage to the delectable flesh of summer, I thought of the sumptuous still lifes by 18th century Spanish painter Luis Meléndez, whose work was the subject of an exhibit last summer at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

As a student at the Royal Academy of Arts in Madrid, the talented Luis aspired to become a royal portrait painter. However, he and his father (who taught at the academy) clashed with the administration and were both expelled. Unsuccessful in petitioning the court for a position, he was relegated to painting still lifes and died in poverty.

Fast forward to a google image-search and yet another Luis Meléndez having difficulties with the court. Nestled among the ripe tomatoes and voluptuous melons, is a wanted poster by the New Bedford Police Department for our painter’s namesake. He failed to appear in court on the last day of his trial, which resulted in a conviction for cocaine trafficking. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in a state prison.

If anyone has information on Mr. Meléndez’s location or sees him, they are urged to either call 911, call New Bedford Police’s Violent Crime Tip Line at 508-961-4584 or the State Police Unit assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office at 508-993-2016.

The public should not attempt to apprehend or subdue Mr. Melendez on their own.

The notice is dated 2007, with no status update. I can only hope that he is now safely behind bars, and has taken up painting.

I strongly urge you to visit the Prado Museum site to see the incredible detail of the images when enlarged (below).








Source

To see other paintings in the Prado collection, go to the Prado on-line gallery search and enter Luis Meléndez.

Fortunato Lacamera

During my visit to Buenos Aires a couple of months ago, I was lucky enough to stumble into an opening reception at the The Benito Quinquela Martín Museum in La Boca. The wine and lovely foccacia pizza being served really hit the spot. I had been exploring the city on foot for the previous three or four hours and was in serious need of refreshment. But the real treat was that I got to to discover the work of Argentine painter Fortunato Lacamera.

Lacamera (1887-1951) was one of the 'Painters of La Boca', an early-20th century group of artists who painted all aspects of life and commerce associated with the teeming industrial port. The best know of this group was Quinquela Martín who painted monumental works of ships, laborers, and life on the docks. He used intense color, high contrast, expressive brushwork, and dramatic vantage points. A collection of his works, his studio, and living quarters are housed in what is now the museum, which also exhibits the work of other Argentine artists.

Lacamera, though very attached to La Boca—he was born there, he died there, and it is said that he rarely left the barrio—produced work of a more contemplative and introspective nature. In addition to plein air and studio paintings of the port, he painted many interiors and still lifes, always with a restrained palette and subtle tonality. Whatever the genre, the sense of place is always communicated--one can always detect the haze-filtered sunlight of an industrial port.

Please excuse the angled photos, I had to use a flash and it was the only way shoot without a reflection.

Teamuncool fashion likes: Snakes and Pearls

PS