Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta

Raimundo De Madrazo y Garreta (Spanish School, 1841-1920) an exceptional and palatial oil on canvas "Portrait of Isabelle McCreery” depicting an elegant woman gracefully exiting a litter (Sedan Chair), situated within a lovely fairytale setting of a fantastical vista dominated by verdant and blue-green hues, a pair of swans and a lily pad frame the scene in the foreground, within it's original impressive and ornate French 19th Century Rococo Style gildwood carved and gesso frame. Signed and dated ‘R. Madrazo, 1880' (lower left). At the bottom center of the impressive frame there is a gilded, wooden cartouch bearing in italicized script “Portrait of Isabelle McCreery.” This is original to the frame. Sometime after the death of the artist, possibly at the time the painting was given to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the painter’s name was added in block letters. Provenance: The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (Donated by Mrs. Richard McCreery in 1950). M.H. de Young Memorial Fine Arts Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Christie's New York, 31 December 1969, Sale Property of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Sold for the Benefit of Museum Acquisitions Funds. Lot 80A for $20,700 Canvas Height: 104 ¾ inches (266.1 cm). Canvas Width: 68 ½ inches (174 cm). Frame Height: 132 inches (335.3 cm). Frame Width: 87 ½ inches (222.3 cm). The work of Raimundo de Madrazo, an artist who lived in Paris the greater part of his life, is among the most representative and influential of the ‘school’ of Spanish painters resident in Paris during the nineteenth century.” (Carlos González and Montse Martí, Spanish Painters in Paris 1850-1900, London, 1989, p. 53). The wonderful imagination and artistic genius of Madrazo y Garreta established his fine reputation, and created an international demand for his exquisite portraiture. This particular work features an elegant woman who gracefully exits a litter, situated within a lovely fairytale setting of a fantastical vista dominated by verdant and blue-green hues. Isabelle McCreery was a member of the noted Gold Rush pioneer McCreery family of Irish background who settled in San Francisco in the mid nineteenth century. She later lived in Burlingame, an early San Francisco...