Madrazo y Garreta, Raimundo de
(Roma, 1841 – Versalles, Francia, 1920)
Member of a prominent family of artists, Raimundo de Madrazo was trained by his father Federico and his grandfather José, as well as in the classrooms of the Escuela Superior de Pintura y Escultura de Madrid. In 1862 he moved to Paris, where he continued his training in the studio of the painter Léon Cogniet, at the School of Fine Arts and at the Imperial School of Drawing. In the capital of France, where he lived most of his life, he became one of the favorite painters of the Parisian “grand monde”, especially for his facility for portraiture, with a marked elegance, soft modeling and loose and sketchy backgrounds. He also cultivated the painting of customs, sometimes close to the work of his brother-in-law Mariano Fortuny, and the painting of anecdotal scenes, often starring the model Aline Masson and intended for the international market. Goupil and Avery will be, as in the case of León and Escosura, his international dealers, who would later be joined by Artal.
A cosmopolitan artist, he traveled to Rome, London, the United States and Argentina. A regular at exhibitions, especially the Parisian salons, in 1889 he received the Gold Medal at the Universal Exposition in Paris and was named an officer of the French Legion of Honor, as well as an honorary member of The Hispanic Society of America in 1905. He moved to Versailles in 1910 and died in 1920. That same year the Royal Academy of London, of which he was a member, dedicates a tribute exhibition to him.
