Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12

Louis Léo HOURDILLE
French Mid-Century Oil on Canvas. 'Arco de Zocodover' in Toledo, Spain.

1950s

About the Item

Mid Century oil on canvas view of the Moorish arch in the Plaza de Zocodover in Toledo, Spain by Louis Léo Hourdille. The painting is signed and titled to the back of the canvas. Hourdille has managed to capture all the charm of this iconic view, he has captured the hot Spanish sun on the canvas. The feeling of the shade of the arch against the bright blue of the sky, the sun illuminating the fronts of the buildings and the edge of the arch itself. A horse being saddled up in the foreground, in the distance a couple in conversation. He has used an impasto technique, wonderful texture and a feeling of depth to the composition. A very atmospheric painting. The Plaza de Zocodover is a square of the city of Toledo in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It was the nerve center of the city during most of its history, acting as its main square. A part of it was designed by Juan de Herrera during the reign of Philip II. Here horses, donkeys, foals, mares, mules and other beasts were sold, when the city of Toledo was a Spanish-Muslim city. The origin of the name Zocodover comes from the Arabic language sūq ad-dawābb, which means "market of burden beasts". This place was also the place where bullfighting and the cucañas were organized in the celebrations of the locality. It has been, therefore, the nerve centre of the social life of the city since medieval times. . It is when the old square was destroyed by a fire on October 29, 1589 that the decision was taken to build a new one. In 1854 an ambitious project was drawn up by the hand of the technician Santiago Martín Ruiz to reorganize the plaza de Zocodover, transforming it into a rectangular portico square. Here the most important market of the city took place. It has been established as a weekly market for centuries. Today it occurs on Tuesdays in the vicinity of Paseo de Merchán or de la Vega. Louis Léo Hourdille enjoyed considerable artistic success in his lifetime, much of his work inspired by his childhood spent in Tolede where his father was working. He continued to return throughout his life and was inspired by the work of the master El Greco as well as the things and people he saw there. Born in 1910, Louis Léo Hourdille was primarily influenced by the 1920s. The 1920s and 1930s saw continued development and evolution of the key innovations of the first years of the twentieth century. To have this time as the formative period for an artist was to be surrounded by inspiring practitioners of the pictorial arts. It was also a time of recovery and introspection after the horrors of the First World War, which saw important shifts in the political world. Marxism was a predominant political ideology which was also enormously influential among artists and their communities. Key artistic developments included a kind of expressive characteristic which was exemplified by Brancusi, Modigliani and Soutine in Paris. Surrealism developed throughout the 1920s and 1930s, with a focus on the human unconscious - a vital idea of Freudian theory. Key Surrealist artists include Salvador Dali, Giorgio de Chirico, Andre Breton, Rene Magritte and Paul Delvaux. Due to its cultural importance, much of this ideology spread across the globe.
  • Creator:
    Louis Léo HOURDILLE (1910 - 2003, French)
  • Creation Year:
    1950s
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 24.41 in (62 cm)Width: 21.26 in (54 cm)Depth: 1.19 in (3 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Cotignac, FR
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: LG/Hourdille/ArcoDeZocodover.1stDibs: LU1430212416512

More From This Seller

View All
'Paysage de Neige Dans le Jura, Avec Chevreuil'. Mid 19th Century Oil on Canvas.
By Gustave Courbet
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid 19th century French oil on canvas of a snow scene in the Jura by Gustave Courbet. Signed bottom right in his characteristic 'ox-blood' red. Our painting is very similar in compo...
Category

19th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Impressionist Oil on Canvas, The Salmon Pool, Canonbie, Scotland
Located in Cotignac, FR
Early 20th Century oil on canvas view of a salmon river by Miss D L Murray. The painting is signed bottom left and there is an artist's label with title to th...
Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

French Impressionist Barbizon School Landscape, Where Sheep Safely Graze
By Georges Guerin
Located in Cotignac, FR
1930s French Impressionist Barbizon School oil on panel view of a church in a bucolic landscape by Georges Guerin (1910-1984). The painting is signed bottom right and also signed top...
Category

1930s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Board, Oil

Apples, Hommage to Rousseau, Large, Square, Naive Oil on Canvas.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Large square French fantasy naive oil on canvas by Jean Henry Brossat. Signed to the front and bearing a title in Russian (?) script to the rear. In a plai...
Category

Mid-20th Century Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

The Horse Drover, 19th Century Austrian School, Oil on Canvas
Located in Cotignac, FR
A mid 19th Century oil on canvas of horses and their drover. The painting is signed MM, dated 1849 and carries a signature to the stretcher Marie Munch. The painting is presented in ...
Category

Mid-19th Century Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Large Scale Surrealist Oil on Canvas, 'At the Watering Hole'.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Large late 20th century oil on canvas of animals at the watering hole by British artist Derek Carruthers. Signed to the bottom right. A magical, highly colourful and energetic paint...
Category

Late 20th Century Surrealist Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

You May Also Like

Highland Bridge
Located in Hillsborough, NC
Fine work by celebrated 19th century artist, Colin Hunter (1841-1904) ARA, RI, RSW, RE. 'Highland Bridge' shows one of the old stone bridges in the Scottish countryside with horse an...
Category

1860s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dutch landscape with cows resting underneath a tree and windmill on the horizon
Located in DEVENTER, NL
Aris Knikker (1887 - 19662) Dutch landscape with cows resting underneath a tree and windmill on the horizon Signed lower right A. Knikker Oil on canvas Di...
Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Arran skyline, Sannox, Isle of Arran, with snipes
Located in London, GB
Vernon Beauvoir Ward (1905–1985) was a British painter and commercial artist renowned for his evocative depictions of Edwardian life, wildlife, and landscapes. Born in Hampstead, Lon...
Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Sir Alfred Munnings, December Morning, Cornwall
By Sir Alfred James Munnings
Located in London, GB
Signed lower left. Image dimensions: 51cm x 61cm / 20 inches x 22 inches Framed dimensions: 64cm x 74cm / 25 inches x 29 inches Painted whilst Munnings was living in Cornwall, 'Dece...
Category

Early 20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

At Rest, Yet Alert - Watchful Tiger, 2001, David Shepherd Original Oil Painting
By David Shepherd
Located in London, GB
David Shepherd’s At Rest, Yet Alert - Watchful Tiger, 2001 is a masterful example of wildlife art, capturing the raw power and quiet intensity of one of nature’s most formidable pred...
Category

Late 20th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Franklin White, British Australian Impressionist view of English country cottage
By Franklin White
Located in Harkstead, GB
A wonderful image of an English country cottage set in a meadow with cattle grazing. Franklin White (1892-1975) A cottage in the countryside Signed with initials and dated (19)32 Oi...
Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

Recently Viewed

View All