Lot 241
  • 241

Miguel Parra Abril

Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Miguel Parra Abril
  • An outdoor scene with a pool of water, a basket and an urn filled with carnations, roses, peonies, lilies, hydrangeas and other flowers
  • signed and dated on the flagstones lower right: M. Parra . Valentia 1830.
  • oil on canvas

Condition

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is in excellent condition. It has never been removed from its original stretcher. The paint layer is cleaned and varnished. Under ultraviolet light, there are a few spots of retouching in the upper center sky, a spot in the trees in the upper right, and a couple of dots around the fountain in the lower right. There are no restorations within the floral arrangement. The paint layer has slightly shrunken in drying in the upper right and in the darker colors of the fountain and terrace in front of the pool. The work should be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Catalogue Note

Miguel Parra Abril was one of the most recognizable and important still-life painters of the Valencian school.  His distinctive compositions have a certain sense of decadence: large blooms, weighing heavily on their stems, overflow from urns and hang in swags from classical sculptures and flowing water features.  The artist developed his style at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos, where a specific sala had been established by Charles III for floral painters to encourage designs for the textile industry that would rival those being produced in France.1  Parra, who was Vincent López’ brother-in-law, soon distinguished himself as a virtuosic flower painter and the exceptionally high quality of his work earned him the moniker of the “Vincent López of flowers.”2

We are grateful to William Jordan for endorsing the attribution of this and the following two lots after firsthand inspection.

1. For more on the career of Miguel Parra Abril, see M.J. López Terrada, "La pintura de flores de Miguel Parra (1780-1846),” inArchivo Español de Arte, LXXXVI, 342, April-June 2013, pp. 123-142.
2. William Jordan, private written communication with the department dated 12 September 2016.