Noteable Sales Achieved
Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes
1746 - 1828
Portrait of the Countess of Haro.
Canvas: 21 x 14 in
54.3 x 35.5 cm
Provenance:
Marquis of Santa Cruz, Madrid, presumably on the death of the Countess in 1805.
Duchess of San Carlos, Madrid.
Private Collection, Switzerland.
Exhibited:
Royal Academy, Spanish Masters, November - January,1920 - 21, no.118, illustrated.
Literature:
Yriarte,C, Goya, Sa biographie, les fresques, les toiles.... et catalogue de l’oeuvre, Paris, 1867, p.134.
Conde de la Viñaza, C, Goya: su tiempo, su vida, sus obras, Madrid,1887, p.270, no 150.
Araujo Sanchez, Z, Goya, Madrid, 1896, p.115, no 224.
Lafond, P, Goya, Paris, 1902, p.131, no 143.
Von Loga, V, Francisco de Goya, Berlin, 1903, p.198, no 260.
Beruete y Moret, A. de,Goya pintor de retratos, Madrid, 1916, p. 186, no 238, reproduced plate 37.
Mayer, Francisco de Goya, Munich, 1923, no320.
Desparmet Fitz - Gerald, X, L’oeuvre peint de Goya, Paris, 1928 -50, no 431.
Guidol, J, Goya, 1971, no 517, illustrated plate 820.
Rita de Angelis, L’opera pittorica completa di Goya, Milan, 1974, no 406
illustrated.
Xavier de Salas, Goya, 1978, no 371, illustrated plate 371.
Pierre Gassier / Juliet Wilson, François Lachenal, Goya, catalogue raisonné,1994, p 198, no 805, illustrated, ( dateable to circa 1802 - 1803 )
Sitter
Doña Maria Ana de Silva y Waldstein, was the daughter of the 9th Marchesa de Santa Cruz and of Doña Maria Ana Countess of the Holy Roman Empire and of Waldstein - Wartenberg. She was born in Madrid on November 14th, 1787 and whilst still very young married Don Bernardino Fernández de Velasco (who was then Conde de Haro and became afterwards Duke of Frías, a romantic poet). Tragically the charming little Countess died on January 21st, 1805 two years after her marriage. Her widower dedicated an elegy to her which is now lost.
This sensuous and mysterious portrait of the Countess of Haro represents Goya at his most enchanting. The great Spanish Master delights in texture and colour. Many writers have stated it to be one of his most attractive female portraits. The grace, elegance and beauty of the young woman are seen to perfect advantage. Goya delights in this aspect of her appearance.
The Countess is sitting in an armchair, wearing a décolleté Directoire costume with a precious tulle shawl adorning rather than covering her shoulders. She has a headdress of gold, as was fashionable in this Romantic period, adorned with flowers and leaves, her long hair gracefully covers part of her forehead.
The flesh tints are incomparably depicted, thanks to the intimate blending of very tight drawing and are combined imperceptibly to give an impression of the most delicate modelling. The dark eyes and the hair falling in thick curls over the forehead are contrasted with the clear shading of the skin. The dress is treated with thick impasto reminiscent of the great Royal Portraits in the Prado, Madrid. The handling is so bold and so skilled that the diaphanous draperies are thrown into relief. There can be few pictures on this scale to equal this portrait.
All the Goya authorities have mentioned this painting in their books. The three quoted below have noted the pictures exceptional quality.
‘Various considerations, including that of dress, but above all a careful examination and analysis of the technique, make 1803 - 1806 the most likely period for a large number of portraits that display very definite correspondences of conception and treatment. Some are of supreme quality, like that of the Condesa de Haro, which makes the most effective use of the texture of the paint to give a sence of reality to the structure and surface qualities of the different materials.. One may observe Goya’s use of a fairly heavy impasto, especially in the flesh tones, which has the effect of accentuating each form and making the figure stand out more strongly against the dark background.’
(José Guidol, Goya, p.131.)
‘Very few of the portraits of ladies by Goya are more attractive or more seductive than this and the expression of sadness and dread of the young girl, who is probably on the eve of her marriage, is conceived in this picture with such mastery that, once seen is never forgotten.’
(Royal Academy Exhibition Catalogue, Spanish Masters, 1920 - 21.)
‘With the portrait just mentioned, (an important work of the Marquesa de Santa Cruz, resting on a rose coloured couch wearing a white dress, her head adorned with leaves and some pale yellow flowers.) both by its origin and the family ties between the sitters, may be connected the beautiful portrait of Doña Manuela de Silva y Walstein, Condesa de Haro, a very refined work, recalling in some points the art of France.’
(A. de Beruete, Goya, p.121 - 122.)
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