No, this weekly inspiration is not about Julio Iglesias. He is not a flamenco singer! It is about another Julio, a Spanish artist called Julio Romero de Torres (1874-1930) who painted such beautiful portraits of Andalusian belles, that they were still represented a century later in a movie by Carlos Saura called ‘Flamenco Flamenco’.
In this dance scene in the movie we see flamenco dancer Sara Baras performing an alegrías style in front of several blow-ups of paintings by Julio Romero de Torres, which I have identified below. None of the paintings show flamenco directly, but they go so well with the flamenco dancing because of the Andalusian feel they bring about.
All of the paintings show Spanish black haired beauties from Córdoba with elements of Andalusian folklore around them, like a guitar, oranges or a mantón (a typical Andalusian shawl). A mantón is very characteristic of flamenco dress code and we see Sara Baras dancing with one too, integrating beautifully with the painting behind her.
From left to right in the movie decor we see the following paintings by Julio Romero de Torres:
Julio Romero de Torres, ‘Nuestra Señora de Andalucía’ (Our Lady of Andalusia), 1907. Oil and tempera on canvas. Museo de Córdoba, ES. Wikimedia. Public domain PD-US
Julio Romero de Torres, ‘La copla’, 1927, oil and tempera on canvas 188 x 82 cm. Museo Julio Romero de Torres, Córdoba, ES. Wikimedia, public domain PD-US
Julio Romero de Torres, ‘Naranjas y limones’ (‘Oranges and lemons’),1927. Oil on canvas. 104 cm (40.9 in) x 74 cm (29.1 in). Museo Julio Romero de Torres, Córdoba, ES. Wikimedia. Public domain PD-US
Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930), ‘Córdoba barroca’ (‘Baroque Córdoba’), second panel of polyptich ‘Poema de Córdoba’, 1913. Wikimedia. Public domain PD-US
Julio Romero de Torres, ‘Poema de Córdoba’ (‘Poem of Córdoba’), 1913-1915, oil on canvas, 88 cm (34.6 in) x 514 cm (202.4 in), Museo Julio Romero de Torres, Córdoba, ES. Wikimedia. Public domain PD-US
References
- Julio_Romero_de_Torres on Wikiwand (ENG)
- Julio Romero de Torres in thyssenmalaga (ES)
- museojulioromero.cordoba.es (ES)
- Flamenco Flamenco (ENG)
Flamenco Artworks© Blog 