Description: Avanti Galleri is proud to offer this amazing oil on canvas rendering of a bullfight scene by the renowned Texas artist Porfirio Salinas (1910-1973). He was an early Texas landscape painter who is recognized for his depictions of the Texas Hill Country in the springtime. He was one of the first Mexican American artists to become nationally recognized for his paintings. He was described by The New York Times as being United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's favorite painter. Works by Salinas are displayed in the Texas State Capitol, the Texas Governor's Mansion and in a number of museums including the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas, and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. Salinas began painting professionally in 1930, when he was twenty years old. The book “Porfirio Salinas” by Ruth Goddard, 1975, chronicles his Spanish ancestry & fascination with bullfights. Here’s an excerpt from an interview with El Ruedo Magazine from Madrid Spain, 1955. Mr. Salinas had a two page article written about him. “Forty-four years ago I was born in the town of Bastrop, a few miles from the city of San Antonio, where I now live, and where I have felt the emotional inclination to paint bullfighting themes.' "When did you begin painting'? "When I was very young. At fifteen years of age I was painting landscapes. And it was at this time in life that I had an opportunity to watch a great artist paint. This was Jose Arpa, from Seville. He had his studio in the center of San Antonio, where his prodigies came to take lessons. He had a great number of students but as one who had no possibility of paying for my classes, I contented myself that he let me see him paint sometimes." "Did you paint only bullfighting themes?" "No, I am primarily a landscape painter. But I have frequently paused in the midst of one of my works and yielded to the emotional impulse to paint a bullfight. The urge would come, a strong desire, while I was painting a landscape, and I would stop what I was doing and record my emotional feelings of a bullfight.' "At what age did your visual knowledge of the bullfight begin?" "In 1928 (at the age of 18) I saw a bullfight for the first time. And since that time I have usually been present when bullfights take place in the cities along the Texas-Mexico border. And, during the long time that I was in Mexico City, I saw the bullfight being celebrated many times. During the times that I saw it, I formed my own concept of the bullfighter, and I could remember precisely what he looked like. The greatest bullfighter that I have ever seen was Manuel Rodriguez, Mano-lete. The fiesta, and the pageantry of the bullfight, stirred the passion in me. And I felt, from the very beginning - from the very first bullfight that I ever saw I had a strong desire to bring this feeling to the canvas. I have had frequent contact with the bullfight, the entire bullfight theme, and it is a sober and colorful spectacle." "Are you acquainted with the present pictorial bullfighting movement in Spain?" "For some years I have been a little out of it, and I haven't known very much about the bullfighting theme of Spain. Recently, however, thanks to José Maria Sánchez Tórres, of Plasencia, I receive copies of El Ruedo and other publications, and am familiarizing myself with the work of Robert Domingo, Juan Réus, Saavedra, Antonio Cassero and many others. All are excellent. It is natural that I have the most admiration for my master, Don Carlos, but I also have much admiration for the work of Juán Réus of Valencia." "How many bullfighting pictures have you painted?" "Well, as I shall explain, I have not dedicated myself to the fullest extent to the fiesta brava, but I have painted some three hundred, or more, pictures about bullfighting. Salinas later made numerous trips to Spain in the 1960’s where he absorbed the culture fully. This Matador-Bullfight Oil on Canvas comes in its original frame. Condition - Artwork is in fine condition, no inpainting or repairs present. Frame commensurate with age. Dimensions - 20” x 24” Total Framed - 28 1/2” x 33” Signed: Porfirio Salinas Created Circa 1935 Purchase includes the book “Porfirio Salinas” by Ruth Goddard
Price: 9500 USD
Location: Dallas, Texas
End Time: 2024-12-19T18:40:10.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 14 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Artist: Porfirio Salinas
Signed By: Porfirio Salinas
Signed: Yes
Material: Canvas
Item Length: 33 in
Region of Origin: Texas, USA
Framing: Matted & Framed
Subject: Matador
Type: Painting
Year of Production: 1935
Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
Item Height: 28 in
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Item Width: 3”
Handmade: Yes
