April (1915)

José María Rodríguez-Acosta presented this work, together with the paintings Con el santo y la limosna and Retrato de Don José María Soltura, to the National Exhibition of 1915. It is the most finished of the paintings of female figures made by the painter in those years and constitutes an authentic portrait of Encarnación Gámez, who was the artist’s companion from the early years of the 20th century, when the painter settled in Madrid, until the end of his life. The figure is outlined against an urban background, the Granada town of Orgiva, which the painter has interpreted through a photograph, since the canvas was painted in his studio in Madrid. The title alludes to Holy Week, which usually coincides with this month of the year, hence the model appears dressed in black with a black mantilla on which the artist will arrange, following his usual procedure, strong spots of color that lighten the whole: Revilla Uceda, M. A.: José María Rodríguez-Acosta 1878-1941. Granada, 1992, p. 301.