Luis Ricardo Falero
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Luis Riccardo Falero (1851-1896) was a Spanish-born painter who lived most of his life in London. He concentrated on the female nude, in a highly-finished manner, and in an orientalist, mythological or fairy tale setting.
Biography
Falero was born in Toledo and originally pursued a career in the Spanish Navy, but gave it up to his parent's bitter disappointment. He walked all the way to Paris, where he studied art, chemistry and mechanical engineering. The experiments that he had to conduct in the latter two were so dangerous, however, that he decided to focus on painting alone. After Paris, he studied in London, where he eventually settled.
Falero had a particular interest in astronomy and incorporated celestial constellations into many of his works, such as "The Marriage of a Comet" and "Twin Stars". His interest and knowledge of astronomy also led him to illustrate the works of Camille Flammarion.
In 1896, the year of his death, Maud Harvey sued Falero for paternity. The suit alleged that Falero seduced Harvey when she was 17 first serving as his housemaid, and then model. When he discovered she was pregnant, he dismissed her. She won the case and was awarded five shillings per week in support of their child.
Falero died at University College Hospital, London, at the age of 45.
List of paintings
- The Enchantress (1878)
- La Favorite (1880)
- The Vision of Faust (1880)
- Departure of the Witches (1878)
