ANTONIO REYNA MANESCAU (Coín, Málaga, 1859 - Rome, 1937)."View of Venice".Oil on canvas.Presents

ANTONIO REYNA MANESCAU (Coín, Málaga, 1859 - Rome, 1937).
"View of Venice".
Oil on canvas.
Presents Cooling Galleries label (London).
Signed and located in the lower right corner.
Size: 35 x 75 cm; 48 x 88 cm (frame).
In this view the author shows a panoramic view of the great canal and part of the Piazzetta of San Marco, in which an area of the Doge's Palace and the famous column, crowned with the winged Lion, symbol of the city, can be seen. Reyna's paintings found great thematic inspiration in the city of Venice, which became a pictorial setting for the artist, who immortalised everything from the most emblematic buildings to the less travelled alleyways. Influenced by the genre of Vedutism and the paintings of Canaletto, Reyna was able to create a style of his own through his vibrant, luminous brushstrokes.
Now considered one of the most important Andalusian landscape painters of the 19th century, Antonio Reyna began his training at the Malaga School of Fine Arts, where his teachers were Joaquín Martínez de la Vega and Bernardo Ferrándiz. From a very early age he exhibited his works regularly and stood out in the local art scene for his colourful, attractive compositions and the ease of his brushstrokes. In 1882 he obtained a grant from the Malaga Provincial Council to further his studies in Italy. After his trip to Italy, Rome became Reyna's place of residence, and he stayed there to live forever. In Rome he frequented Villegas, like so many other Spaniards, and influenced to some extent by the latter's work, Reyna worked on a number of oriental and "casacón" themes, the latter of which were exquisitely executed with a refined chromatic variety. At the same time, as a member of the Spanish colony, he took part in the gatherings at the Café Greco. Although his habitual residence was in the Italian capital, the artist travelled several times to Venice, from where he painted a view of the Grand Canal as early as 1885, and in 1887 he produced numerous vedute paintings of the city. His painting, treated from a somewhat picturesque point of view, focused on the execution of small-format urban landscapes, repeating them on many occasions with only minor variations. Venice was at that time one of the main centres of attraction for Spaniards, thanks to the influence of the master Fortuny and the weight of Villegas's Venetian production, as well as the effect of the summer stays of Martín Rico, whose precious landscapes were passed on to Reyna. In 1887, a large canvas entitled Floralia won him a third-class medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts and was considered at the time to be the painter's best painting. In 1910, on the occasion of his mother's death, Reyna spent some time in his native city. There he was inspired to produce another of his most celebrated paintings, "Rancho andaluz" ("Andalusian Ranch"), which he showed at the International Exhibition of Fine Arts in Rome the following year. Some years earlier, in 1895, the queen regent Maria Cristina had awarded him the knight's cross of the order of Charles III, which was associated with the production of some overdoors that later passed to the Madrid Athenaeum, although it would appear that they are no longer to be found there. Reyna also exported his work to London, particularly his Venetian views. He also held regular exhibitions in Rome, showing among other works two portraits of Pope Benedict XV, which attest to his expertise in this genre. In his painting, which was certainly innovative for the time, the artist displayed his skill at drawing and an innate ability for composition, marked by the boldness of his brushstrokes and a wealth of colour. On 5 December 2009, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Antonio Reyna's birth, an extensive anthological exhibition of his work was inaugurated at the García Agüera Foundation in Malaga.