Spanish school of the early 20th century.
"Portrait of a Man, 1902.
Oil on canvas.
Signed "E. González" and dated.
Measurements: 97 x 77 cm; 111 x 90 cm (frame).
In this canvas the author gives us the portrait of an elderly man, represented in the foreground, half-length on a neutral background that manages to introduce a greater impression of three-dimensionality in the image. Particularly noteworthy is the gentleman's gesture, who looks forward in a concentrated attitude, thus establishing contact with the viewer. On the little finger of his right hand he wears two rings, a sign of distinction. As in the rest of Europe, in the 18th century portraiture became the leading genre par excellence in Spanish painting, as a consequence of the new social structures, embodying the maximum expression of the transformation of the taste and mentality of the new bourgeois clientele. This genre embodies the permanent presence of the image of its protagonists, to be enjoyed in the intimacy of a studio, in the daily warmth of a family cabinet or presiding over the main rooms of the house.