Portrait of King George VI by Federico Beltrán-Masses

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Federico Beltran Masses
Portrait of King George VI by Federico Beltrán-Masses

About the Item

Federico Beltrán-Masses 1885-1949 | Spanish Portrait of King George VI Oil on canvas Signed and dated F. Beltran-Masses 1938 (lower left) Classically inspired yet ultra-modern, the distinctive style of Cuban-Spanish painter Federico Beltrán-Masses truly defies classification. The present piece, Portrait of King George VI, represents the master painter’s uniquely romantic and bold style, making clear why the artist was so highly sought after in his day as a portraitist. In recent years, Beltrán-Masses and his impactful oeuvre has enjoyed a revival of interest, with retrospectives dedicated to his career held in Barcelona in 2011, and Paris and London in 2012. Beltrán-Masses' subject, the venerable King George VI, has himself experienced a surge in popular interest of late, due, in part, to the Academy Award-nominated film The King’s Speech. Beltrán-Masses provides another glimpse of the royal, regaling posed in full military uniform. Like many of Beltrán-Masses most striking portraits, he presents his subject posed against a lush blue background, which was so distinctive to his oeuvre that it came to be known as "Beltrán blue." The 1936 coronation of England's King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, was widely regarded as a sign of hope and renewal after scandal rocked the monarchy. Following the death of King George V in 1936, the Prince of Wales, George's elder brother, ascended to the throne as Edward VIII, but abdicated in less than a year's time to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson. Due to the controversy surrounding the abdication, popular opinion of the throne was at its lowest point since the latter half of Victoria's reign. George, or Albert, as he was known, went from living a relatively quiet life as the Duke of York with his wife, the former Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, and their two young daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, to assuming the role as monarch of a troubled nation. George dutifully accepted this new position, and upon his ascension, wrote to Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin concerning the state of the monarchy: "I am new to the job but I hope that time will be allowed to me to make amends for what has happened." Here, Beltrán-Masses depicts this reluctant king with a regard that reflects the prestige he brought to the monarchy.
Born in Cuba and raised in Barcelona, Beltrán-Masses’ Spanish roots permeate deeply throughout his work. He learned his craft under the tutelage of the great Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida at the Barcelona Academy of Fine Arts, and quickly earned the support of the cultural elite in Spain, France, England, and, eventually, the United States. The artist’s unique figural style set him apart from his contemporaries, whose work was by then firmly entrenched into the stark abstract planes of Cubism. He soon emerged as the leading portraitist of society’s elite, a reputation that earned him the friendship of Rudolph Valentino and took him all the way to Hollywood in 1925. Valentino introduced the artist to a crowd of Hollywood elite who soon become both sitters and patrons, including Douglas Fairbanks, Marion Davies, Pola Negri and Joan Crawford. At his height, the artist portrayed celebrities and royals alike from the world over, including Alfonso XIII of Spain, the Shah of Persia, dukes and princesses from around the world, and millionaires as Rothschild and idols of the screen as Pola Negri and Rudolph. This important work is illustrated in Federic Beltrán-Masses: Blue Nights and Libertine Legends, 2012, by G. Stair Sainty and M. Finer. Circa 1938 Canvas: 36 3/4" high x 29 1/2" wide Frame: 43 3/4" high x 36" wide Provenance: Estate of the artist, to his widow to the heirs of the latter Private collection, Barcelona Exhibited: Federico Beltrán Masses: un pintor en la corte de Hollywood, Museu Diocesa, Barcelona, 2011, no. 101, p. 183 Federico Beltrán Massés: Castizo cosmopolita, Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid, 2012, illus, pp. 134-135 References: Federico Beltrán Massés y la Exposicion National de Bellas Artes MCMXV, Madrid, 1915 Federico Beltrán Massés, 1920, by J. Francés and A. de Hoyos y Vinent Sur l’oeuvre de Beltrán Massés, 1924, F. Paillart

Creator:
Federico Beltran Masses (1885 - 1949, Cuban, Spanish)
Dimensions:
Height: 43.75 in (111.13 cm)Width: 36 in (91.44 cm)
Condition:
Gallery Location:
New Orleans, LA
Reference Number:
Seller: 30-42531stDibs: LU186678692