1849 -1916 · Valencia, Rome and Spanish modernity

Family portraits, beach scenes and fragments of life find in Ignacio Pinazo a free touch which transforms Valencian naturalism into modern research on light and the moment.

Ignacio Pinazo Camarlench was born in Valencia in 1849 into a modest family. Orphaned at a very young age, he worked in numerous professions - goldsmith, gilder, tile and fan painter, hatter - while following evening classes at the San Carlos Academy from 1864. This training acquired through contact with manual work and daily life nourishes a painting which will remain deeply attentive to matter and reality. In 1873, he himself financed a first trip to Italy. Three years later, he himself financed a first trip to Italy. Three years later, he himself financed a first trip to Italy. Three years later, he himself financed a first trip to Italy. Three years later, he himself financed a first trip to Italy. Three years later, he himself financed a first trip to Italy. Three years later, he himself financed a first trip to Italy. Three years later, he himself financed a first trip to Italy. Three years later, a pension from the Deputation of Valencia allowed him to study in Rome for five years. He discovered Fortuny, the verismo of Domenico Morelli and the painting of macchiaioli, including the use of colorful masses and light help to release its touch. Like any resident, Pinazo created great historical compositions, notably The Last Moments of King James I, awarded in Madrid in 1881. But his singularity was especially affirmed in rapid studies, landscapes, nudes and portraits. Back in Valencia, he briefly taught color in San Carlos then moved to Godella. His studio and family became a permanent laboratory. His sons José and Ignacio, future artists and sculptors, appeared in numerous paintings; the proximity of the model allows unexpected poses, tight framing and immediate notation. Pinazo does not search still hiding the development of the painting. Open backgrounds, visible touches, interrupted contours and areas left in reserve give the work the energy of a still mobile perception. This unfinished appearance is not negligent: it affirms the autonomy of painting and announces several researches from the Spanish 20th century. The Portrait of Teresa Martinez belongs to this intimate vein. The model is not reduced to social status; look, skin tone, clothing and space are unified by a living touch that preserves the interior presence. Honored by the National Exhibitions and the Medal of Honor in 1912, Pinazo died in Godella in 1916. Alongside Francisco Domingo and Sorolla, he profoundly renews Valencian painting. The "Ignacio Pinazo" selection notably compares Portrait of Teresa Martinez. His reading favors light.

Pinazo lets the touch breathe: the portrait does not close around the model, it retains the very movement of the gaze which has just discovered it.