I was in Lambertville, NJ, looking at antiques, when I spotted this bullfighter painting by José González de la Peña. I love the drama of the image, the way the red cape swirls around the torso of the matador. While I saw the exterior of two different bullfighting arenas on my trip to Spain, I did not see an actual bullfight – yet I remain fascinated by the genre of bullfighting paintings. Maybe it’s some odd fascination tied to my appreciation for the art of Pablo Picasso, who loved to paint bullfighting scenes and was often photographed in attendance at bullfights.
But this isn’t anything like a Picasso painting, it’s by José González de la Peña – but who is de la Peña? I’m not familiar with him, but the wall tag at the antiques store reads: “José González de la Peña (1887-1961), born in Madrid, Spain, and died in Anglet, France. Known for paintings of bullfighting” (here’s another one found online, as a comparison point). A little research reveals that full name was José Antonio González de la Peña y Rodríguez de la Encina, and was also known as the “VII Barón de Forna.” He came from an aristocratic background, as his family was connected to Spanish nobility, and he held diplomatic status at times. He spent parts of his life in Paris in the 1920s among the colony of Spanish artists living there – so I wonder if he ever interacted with Picasso, who was also a Spaniard in Paris in the 1920s? There’s no documented proof of it, as far as I can tell, but one would have to think as Spanish artists in Paris, especially with Picasso having the high visibility that he did, that they would have crossed paths at some point.
At any rate, I love this painting, but at $2,850, it was a bit out of my price range. So I’ll just appreciate it here.