Lot 1585 Dα

Benito Espinós was taught in Valencia in the workshop of his father, the painter José Espinós. Benito played an important role in this city - both as a teacher at the academy and as a designer for the silk industry, but especially as an artist. He also painted for the court of Madrid, creating works for Charles IV and Ferdinand VII. He was without doubt the most important still life painter in Spain in the 18th century, and is renowned for the sophistication of his technique and style (Alfonso E. Perez Sanchez: Naturalezas muertas y flores del museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia, 1996, p. 81).
His works, which today are almost all to be found in museum collections, brought to its ultimate fruition a genre which had been developed in Spain during the 17th century both by specialised painters such as van der Hamen, Arellano and Meléndez, as well as universal masters such as Velázquez and Zurbarán. Espinós' works testify to his careful study of these historic predecessors, but also his knowledge of the works of his French contemporaries. His paintings can be viewed in the museums of Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona, among many others.