Antonio María Esquivel (1806-1957), Attributed To - The Merchant Of Cadiz

- Oil on canvas. - Antonio María Esquivel developed a personal and unique style, halfway between his Sevillian training and the situation of the first third of the 19th century in Spain, with frequent nods to the romanticism and realism that prevailed in the fashion of the time. Favored by a bourgeois clientele perfectly aware of his quality and great skill in portraiture, he lent himself to hundreds of commissions from the middle classes of progressive Spain made up of politicians, merchants, actors and career military men. His conciseness, executive precision and ease in capturing profiles and psychologies crystallize in paintings such as this merchant from Cadiz, whose identity we can easily draw a contextual horizon, even if we do not know. After the silting up of the Arenal in Seville, the primacy of Spanish ports passed to the neoclassical metropolis of Cádiz, which dominated Spain's trade with America for much of the 18th and 19th centuries. Britain's strong trade with the Spanish southwest, fuelled by a growing industry in sherry and its derivatives, added to the equation, giving the oldest city on the Iberian Peninsula notable Caribbean and Anglo-Saxon influences. Our gentleman's bushy sideburns and Victorian-style clothing attest to his membership of a plutocratic elite that soon became similar to the surnames of the English expatriates who settled in the city at the height of its commercial boom, assuming British cultural traits. - Unframed image dimensions: 65 x 55 cm / 80 x 66 cm with magnificent original period frame. - It comes from a private collection of paintings from Cadiz. - Good general condition. Minimal defects. - This painting is a unique, original and irreplaceable work of art. - Galerie Montbaron includes a technical sheet drawn up by a qualified art historian with all its lots. This sheet is sent in digital format and on request.