Born on a ranch in Buenos Aires (Argentina) on September 11, 1913, the daughter of an emigrant Cordovan family, María Teresa López González is known for having been the muse of the painter Julio Romero de Torres in several of his paintings, especially his best-known La Chiquita Piconera painting (Below).
At the age of seven, she returned to Córdoba and, together with her family, settles in the San Pedro neighborhood, near the residence of Julio Romero de Torres.
Julio Romero De Torres
Fuensanta
Oil and tempera on canvas
Private collection
Sold for 826,900 GBP in November 2007
The sitter was María Teresa Lopez González, born in Argentina, she moved with her family to Julio Romero de Torres's native Córdoba after World War I. There she first sat for the painter aged just 14 years old, and became the artist's favourite model. Showing María Teresa resting her arms on a copper cauldron was most widely praised, and championed as a quintessential rendition of Andalousian beauty.
Ironically, as María Teresa's simple elegance was popularised after World War II through the dissemination of the image on the currency, the whereabouts of the painting itself became increasingly shrouded in mystery. Known over many years simply through an old photograph, its location was unknown until recently. More on this painting
The painting was exhibited in Seville at the Ibero-American Exhibition of 1929, from that moment on it was not known where it was.
Julio Romero De Torres
100 pesetas of Spain 1953
National Factory of Coin and Stamp
At the age of seven, he settled with her family in the house of her paternal grandmother, in the Cordovan neighborhood of San Pedro, not far from the Plaza del Potro, where Julio Romero de Torres, already a renowned painter, had his house and study. Both meet through the intermediation of her family's errand boy and he organized the meeting, since the artist had expressed some interest in her. She began posing as a model the afternoon after this meeting, charging three pesetas per session. She remained for ten years as the muse of the brilliant artist.
Julio Romero De Torres
Homage to Cruz Conde
Oil and tempera on canvas
Private collection
María Teresa married, civilly, and from that union a girl was born, whom she named Paquita. The baby only lived three days, she died of pneumonia. But this marriage only lasted two years, after enduring all series of ill-treatment. Her husband even wanted to prostitute her, so Teresa ended up running away from him and ended up making a living cutting hair in hairdressers and as a seamstress. After these events, she did not have a stable relationship again since she assured that men approached her only because of the fame that she acquired with Julio Romero.
In 1929, doctors diagnosed the painter with a serious liver ailment and he decided to return to Córdoba to try to recover his health under the care of his family. His last paintings, including La Chiquita Piconera , were painted practically in his bedroom. Considered by critics as his pictorial testament, he finished it in February, shortly before he died, in May 1930 at the age of 55.
Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930)
The girl with the jug, c. 1928
Oil and tempera on canvas
height: 55cm; width: 40cm
Julio Romero de Torres Museum
This work was painted during the artist's maturity period, in which he carried out the series called "Chiquitas Buenas".
This painting gathers a combination of feelings. It was the result of the contemplation of classics during his travels to Italy and his way of grasp the autochthonous and native things.
María poses holding a ceramic pitcher. Once again he contemplates the beauty of the Cordovan woman with the beauty of popular ceramics. Romero de Torres manages to give the exact qualities through color, which is why he gives the portrait an overwhelming realism.. More on this painting
Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930)
The little piconera, c. 1930
Oil and tempera on canvas
height: 200 cm (78.7 in); width: 169 cm (66.5 in)
Julio Romero de Torres Museum
The work primarily oozes erotism, displaying a number of sexual fetishes recurring in the artist's portfolio. In the light of the common underlying theme of prostitution and the saliency of the stocking and the brazier
La chiquita piconera is considered the last complete work by Romero de Torres before his death. More on this painting
In 1965 a fragment of La Chiquita Piconera was taken for the issuance of 5 pesetas stamps in honor of Romero de Torres.
Teresa posed again, for the Cordovan painter Aurelio Sanchiz, who wanted to capture the passage of time. In 1979, just half a century after the original, Teresa is seen striking the same pose as in Fuensanta.
Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930)
Monjita, c. 1930
Oil on canvas
height: 70 cm (27.5 in); width: 60 cm (23.6 in)
Museo Julio Romero de Torres
The white monjita is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. This is a bright white bird, with dark eyes, black legs, and a medium to short pointed bill. It has deep black borders on the outer wing, and a short notched tail.
The last stretch of her life was spent in a nursing home after she received recognition from the city, Córdoba, in 2000. Shee passed away at the age of 89, in 2003, and her remains rest in the El Carpio cemetery.
In addition to that emblematic painting, Ángeles, Carmen, Bendición, Niña de la jarra, La mujer Cordobesa de Bodegas Cruz Conde and La nun (unfinished) are some of the works where Julio Romero expresses with great mastery the serene beauty of this unique woman through in which life, apart from her famous beauty, gave her a path of thorns, they even made verses about her relationship with the painter, sung by Estrellita Castro, among others. More on María Teresa Lopez González
Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930)
Bendición Sánchez/ Sanchez blessing, around 1904
Oil on canvas
height: 100cm; width: 85cm
Museum of Fine Arts of Cordoba
After having achieved a resounding success in the National in 1895, de Torres tried to make his way in press illustration in the capital of Spain, from where he would return with nothing very clear in 1899. With this, he inaugurates a period of life in Córdoba during which, and until approximately 1907, when he takes the first steps of what would be his new aesthetic, his work remains technically faithful to a practice of modern conception with which he gives life to some themes taken from their most immediate reality to which like nobody else endows with transcendent symbolic connotations. More on this painting
Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930)
angels, c. 1928
Oil and tempera on canvas
32x21cm
Julio Romero de Torres Museum
This portrait was made by Romero de Torres in 1928. The naivety and ingenuousness of the young girl is the main feature of this small size canvas. Her dark and bright hair contrasts with the wealthy frame, quilted in gold. Moreover, he replaced his mirror of her with this young visage of Córdoba. More on this painting
Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930)
Carmen, c. 1928
Oil and tempera on canvas
height: 46 cm (18.1 in); width: 34 cm (13.3 in)
Museo Julio Romero de Torres
This well-made contour study on a gloomy background belongs to "Chiquitas Buenas" painted between 1927 and 1928.
The protagonist of this painting is Maria Teresa Lopez, the same model that stands in "La Chiquita Piconera".
In this canvas, the serene and pleasant features, the quiet sight and the delicate expression of melancholy made a portrait of this woman with mastery. He achieves and admirable effect of spatial reality, reflected by the brightness in some areas and dark background. This painting shows a perfect balance in shapes and colors. More on this painting
Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930)
Amparo, c. 1920
Oil on canvas
96.2 by 95.5 cm.
Private collection
Estimated for £250,000 GBP - £350,000 GBP in November 2008
Although the identity of the sitter is unknown, Romero de Torres also painted an oil study of the model's face in 1929...
Julio Romero de Torres (9 November 1874 – 10 May 1930) began to paint under the instruction of his father, the well-known Andalucian artist and teacher, Rafael Romero Barros. Whilst growing up and studying art, he was exposed to the exciting emergence of Realism, Impressionism and Symbolism, giving rise to a unique style in which he combined the Realist traditions of Gustave Courbet and Mariano Fortuny, the photographic portraiture of Federico de Madrazo and the Impressionism of Aureliano de Beruete, Dario de Regoyos and Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida. His early career developed well and he was rewarded with a mention of honour at the 1895 National Exhibition went on to win third class medals in 1899 and 1904.
Romero de Torres once described himself as a 'painter from the soul of Andalucia’. In the present work we see how he focused upon subjects based on folklore, in particular 'la mujer morena’ or brown skinned beauty. The strongly drawn sitter leans elegantly on a glazed ceramic amphora. She gazes directly at the viewer in a calm and cool manner inviting admiration and interest. Her elegant draped clothing and jewellery contrast with the mundane task of gathering water, but the work is pervaded by a sense of nobility and timelessness.. More on Julio Romero de Torres
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