Portrait of the Duchess of Arión, Marchioness of Bay (Retrato de la duquesa de Arión, marquesa de Bay) by Spanish artist Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta places the slim, elongated figure of the duchess slightly left of center, strongly and distinctly outlined against both earth and sky. She pauses, tall and poised, half-turned towards us, close up, in the near foreground, much larger than real life, so that she seems to acquire mythic dimensions transforming her, for a moment, into a universal icon. The quiet dignity of her posture, the perfection of her exquisite oval face, and the opalescent skin-tones of her arms and shoulders are all marvelous. Zuloaga knew how to translate into paint the tactile reality of elegant fabrics and the way light acts upon them. He captures the golden metallic glint glancing off the stiff blue-green moiré of her gown. He recreates the sensuous drift of the black lace mantilla floating down from the peineta (a high Spanish comb), in contrast to the weighty softness of the traditional shawl (mantón de Manila). This is not only a faithful representation of the outward appearance of the Duchess, it also suggests something beneath that, some mystery that we are invited to explore. When we approach the royal beauty and meet her eyes, candidly returning our gaze, and when her lips, slightly parted in a smile, seem to be inviting us to join her on her walk, we find ourselves in front of an enigma. Where is she going? What is the meaning of the turbulent sky? Zuloaga was born in 1870 and passed away in 1945; meaning, he lived through the Spanish American War, two World Wars, the Russian Revolution, and the Spanish Civil War. Turbulence was the background to Spanish life then. His friends and admirers recognized his passionate devotion to Spain, and said of him that he not only painted Spain, he “painted in Spanish.”
“Retrato de la duquesa de Arión, marquesa de Bay” by Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (Spanish) - Oil on canvas / 1918 - Meadows Museum (Dallas, Texas) #WomenInArt #art #PortraitofaWoman #ArtText #artwork #portraitofalady #SpanishArtist #IgnacioZuloagayZabaleta #IgnacioZuloaga #Zuloaga #SMU #MeadowsMuseum
