Background
Ethnicity:
Luis Paret y Alcázar was born to a French father and a Spanish mother.
Paret y Alcázar was born in Madrid, Spain, on February 11, 1746.
Calle de Alcalá, 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Luis Paret y Alcázar was a student of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando between 1756 and 1762.
Calle de Alcalá, 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Paret y Alcázar became a teacher of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in 1779.
Ethnicity:
Luis Paret y Alcázar was born to a French father and a Spanish mother.
Paret y Alcázar was born in Madrid, Spain, on February 11, 1746.
Luis Paret y Alcázar began studies at the newly formed Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid in 1756 and completed his artistic education there in 1762. He also attended the classes at the studio of the French painter Charles de la Traverse, who worked for the Marchese of Ossun, the ambassador of France in Spain.
Paret y Alcázar was appointed painter at the Court of King Carlos III in 1762. Eventually, he was banished to Puerto Rico in 1775 for his bad behaviour at the Court. He remained there until 1778. During the short period of his life on the island, he executed commissions for the Mayor’s Office and also played an important role in the education of José Campeche, the first known Puerto Rican visual artist, and Jordan, his only disciple.
Among the artworks created during his stay in Puerto Rico his self-portrait, produced in 1776, is most notable. The artist depicted himself barefooted and dressed in the typical clothing of the Puerto Rican peasant. The painting was sent to King Carlos III so he would pity his situation and terminate his exile.
However, upon his return to Spain, Paret y Alcázar settled in Bilbao, for he was not allowed to enter Madrid until 1787. During this time, Luis Paret y Alcázar created a great number of finely painted small-format canvases with vibrant colours, making them jewel-like in both their details and general views.
Like many other eighteenth-century painters, Luis Paret y Alcázar was attracted to the theater, and to the thrilling costumes and masks of Carnival celebrations. This resulted in the creation of artworks that offered viewers a glimpse of eighteenth-century Spain’s commonly agreeable entertainments and pastimes.
Unfortunately, despite becoming a teacher in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando at the age of 33, he mainly received royal commissions to depict vistas of ports, the Spanish equivalent of vedute, and also of planned works of construction. He also executed still life and genre paintings called bambochadas as they focused on the customs of the underclasses.
View of El Arenal de Bilbao
Charles III Dining before the Court
Jura de Fernando VII como príncipe de Asturias
Zebra
The Quay, Olaveaga, Bilbao
View of Fuenterrabía
Elegant Company Preparing for a Masked Ball
Maria de las Nieves Micaela Fourdinier
Still-Life with Fruit
La carta
A Picnic at a Country Town
Ensayo de una comedia
Baile en máscara
Self-Portrait
Flowers
The Botanical Garden of Paseo del Prado
The Shop
Virgin and Child with St James the Great
View of El Arenal in Bilbao
Flowers
The watchfulness of Diogenes
The Visit of the Angel to Zechariah
Self-portrait in the studio
The royal pairs
A Fiesta in a Botanical Garden
Village Scene
La Puerta del Sol en Madrid
The Harbour of Bermeo
Portrait de femme en Cérès
Portrait of a lady with her infant child, a Phoenix rising from ashes in the background
Paret y Alcázar was characterized by an extraordinarily active mind and relentless creative imagination.