Cayetano Benavent Rocamora - The Fire

Cayetano BENAVENT ROCAMORA Reus, 1834 - Barcelona, 1910 Oil on cardboard 18.5 x 25.5 cm (29 x 34 cm with frame) Signed lower right "Cayentano Benavent" Cayentano Benavent y Rocamora is a Spanish painter, brother of the musician Enric Benavent. After drawing lessons in Reus with Verdaguer, he went to study in Barcelona at the Escola de la Llotja with Ramon Martí i Alsina. He then exhibited in Barcelona, Madrid, Saragozza and also in the United States. He was a professor of painting at the Institutrius School in Barcelona and founder and director of the magazine La Gaceta Artística. He was a friend of Marià Fortuny, Robert Robert and Josep de Letamendi. Our painting represents a scene of a character fleeing from a night fire. Cayetano Benavent specialized a bit in night landscapes with beautiful chiaroscuro effects. This painting is dedicated to "D'Hermenez Paula"? "en la noche de su benifizio". Is it a souvenir in honor of an artist's performance on stage?