Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Floral Still Life with Roses, 19th Century Spanish Oil Painting
Artist: José María Murillo Bracho
Birth / death: Seville, 1827 – Málaga, 1882
Title: Floral Still Life
Technique: Oil on canvas
Artwork size: 34 × 45 cm / 13.4 × 17.7 in
Framed size: 56 × 67 cm / 22 × 26.4 in
Signature: Signed lower left
Frame: Yes, ornate gilded frame included
Condition: Good overall condition, with normal signs of age and conservation consistent with a 19th-century painting. The frame shows wear consistent with age.
Subject: Floral still life
Style: 19th-century Spanish painting, floral realism, Andalusian school
Description
Elegant 19th-century floral still life painted in oil on canvas by José María Murillo Bracho, a Spanish artist from Seville especially known for his refined flower paintings, fruit compositions and still lifes.
The work presents a horizontal bouquet of flowers arranged on a neutral surface, with white roses, vivid red blossoms, mauve flowers, golden yellow accents and deep green leaves. The composition combines naturalistic precision, delicate color and a carefully balanced sense of light, creating a serene and highly decorative image.
The contrast between the luminous white flowers at the center, the intense red blooms and the sober blue-grey background gives the painting great visual richness. The brushwork is detailed and sensitive, particularly in the petals and foliage, where the artist’s almost botanical attention to form and texture can be clearly appreciated.
This painting is especially attractive within Murillo Bracho’s production because floral still life was one of the genres most closely associated with his work. The piece also retains an ornate gilded frame, enhancing its classical presence and making it highly suitable for a refined interior.
A charming antique Spanish flower painting, ideal for collectors of 19th-century Spanish art, floral still lifes, academic realism, Andalusian painting and decorative European oil paintings. A bouquet that does not fade, which is already more than can be said for most modern enthusiasm.
Artist Biography
José María Murillo Bracho was a Spanish painter born in Seville in 1827 and died in Málaga in 1882. He is also sometimes referenced as José María Murillo y Bracho or José María Bracho Murillo.
He trained at the Academy of Fine Arts of Santa Isabel de Hungría in Seville, one of the most important artistic institutions in Andalusia during the 19th century. His work developed within the Spanish academic tradition, with a particular focus on still lifes, flowers and fruit compositions.
Murillo Bracho was connected to both Seville and Málaga, and his painting reflects the refined bourgeois taste of 19th-century Andalusia. His works are appreciated for their careful realism, elegant composition, delicate chromatic range and meticulous treatment of floral subjects.
Floral still lifes are among the most representative and desirable aspects of his production, combining decorative beauty with technical precision and a distinctly classical Spanish sensibility.
Artistic Inspiration
This painting belongs to the long European tradition of floral still life, connecting 19th-century Spanish academic painting with the broader history of flower painting. It may appeal to collectors interested in artists and traditions associated with Henri Fantin-Latour, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Rachel Ruysch, Juan de Arellano and classical European botanical painting.
With its serene composition, precise floral detail and elegant color harmony, the work is well suited for collectors of antique still lifes, Spanish School paintings, Andalusian art, academic realism and refined decorative interiors.
Spanish 19th Century Painting, Floral Still Life, Antique Flower Painting...
Category
1860s Academic Edward Chalmers Leavitt Paintings
