Lot 241: Benito Espinós , Valencia 1748 - 1818 A still life with roses, carnations and other flowers beside sculpted reliefs; A still life with lillies, roses, morning glory and other flowers beside sculpted ruins oil on panel

a pair, the former signed lower right: Benito Espinos f t . the latter signed lower right: Espinos f t oil on panel Quantity: 2

measurements note each: 46.4 by 69.8 cm.; 18 1/4 by 27 3/8 in.

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 10 May 1967, lot 102, for £750 to "Herschel";
Acquired there or shortly after by the grandfather of the present owners.

PROPERTY FROM AN ENGLISH PRIVATE COLLECTION
Benito Espinós was the leading exponent of still life painting in Valencia in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Since shortly after the death of Tomás Hiepes in 1674 the practice of still life painting in Valencia had largely disappeared and it was not until the opening of a new painting academy in the city in 1768, La Academia de San Carlos, and more specifically the establishment therein of the Sala de Flores in 1778, that still life painting was reborn in that city. The Sala de Flores had places for twelve students to be trained in the production of floral motifs and designs for the region's silk industry, which had suffered a dramatic decline due to the importation of luxury designs from France. Espinós entered the academy almost immediately and in 1783 won first prize in the annual competition. The following year he was appointed director and Maestro de Flores to the Sala de Flores which, in the same year, became the Escuela de Flores y Ornatos Aplicados a los Tejidos (School of Flowers and Ornaments Applied to Textiles). He remained director of the Academy for over thirty years (until 1815), during which time he established himself as the dominant figure in Valencian still life painting.

These still lifes belong to a small group of works of horizontal format, in which a selection of flowers and friezes are arranged upon a stone ledge; see, for example, the painting sold in these Rooms, 5 April 1995, lot 148, or the pair offered in these Rooms, 9 December 2004, lot 362.