1753 -1820 · Court portrait, Goya and Valencian precision

Goya's collaborator and sought-after portraitist, Agustin Esteve presents the image of the court between cardinal, young heiress, queen in mantilla and Charles IV in uniform.

Born and died in Valencia, Agustin Esteve y Marqués descends from a family of artists documented since the 15th century. He first learned from his father, the altarpiece painter Agustin Esteve Torralba, then entered the Academy of San Carlos in 1768. Two years later, he joined San Fernando in Madrid. Francisco Bayeu, Mariano Salvador Maella and especially Anton Raphael Mengs shaped his first style. The decisive meeting took place in 1775 with Francisco de Goya, with whom he became a close collaborator. Esteve, however, developed a recognizable way: precise drawing, more compact modeling, carefully described materials and contained psychology. In the last quarter of the 18th century, he is one of the aristocracy's most sought-after portraitists, just behind Goya in his prices. Her relationship with the house of Osuna notably produced the portrait of Joaquina Téllez-Giron, aged thirteen in 1798, where rank did not erase the adolescent's candor. Under Charles IV, Esteve executed numerous replicas of the royal models created by Goya for public institutions. Under Charles IV, Esteve executed numerous replicas of the royal models created by Goya for public institutions. Under Charles IV, Esteve executed numerous replicas of the royal models created by Goya for public institutions. Under Charles IV, Esteve executed numerous replicas of the royal models created by Goya for public institutions. Queen Maria Luisa with mantilla and Charles IV in the uniform of colonel of the royal guard, painted around 1799 -1800, are part of this practice of faithful translation. Queen Maria Luisa with mantilla and Charles IV in the uniform of colonel of the royal guard, painted around 1799 -1800, are part of this practice of faithful translation. Queen Maria Luisa with mantilla and Charles IV in the uniform of colonel of the royal guard, painted around 1799 -1800, are part of this practice of faithful translation. Queen Maria Luisa with mantilla and Charles IV in miniaturist, quality appreciated by Goya, draftsman for engraving and religious painter. In June 1800, he became a chamber painter and academician of merit in San Carlos. The War of Independence and the change of taste under Ferdinand VII, however, marginalized his career. Retired in 1819, he returned to Valencia. The selection "Agustin Esteve y Marqués" notably compares Cardinal Don Luis Maria de Borbon y Vallabriga and Joaquina Téllez-Giron, daughter of the IX Dukes of Osuna. His reading favors the material.

Esteve sometimes uses Goya's models, but her denser precision transforms each costume, uniform and face into an instrument of official continuity.