JULIO ROMERO DE TORRES, 1931 - El Cohete (The rocket) / Oil on canvas 63.5 × 37.0 cm [Rus: Ракета]

☆Location: MAXAM Foundation, Madrid, Spain

Source: museojulioromero.cordoba.es/?id=454

 

📌The same enigma that Romero de Torres’ women transmit with their Mona Lisa smiles is that which lingers over the date upon which this calendar was painted. Clearly it must have been one of the painter’s final creations, as he died in his native city of Córdoba in 1930, just months before his ‘rocket’ painting would be featured on MAXAM’s 1931 calendar. Given the similarities between the two, however, it is reasonable to believe that the painting was made at the same time as Hunting Shotgun, hishunting-themed work that was selected to illustrate the 1929 almanac.

Indeed, the woman shown lighting the rocket seems to be the altar eager of the one depicted on the former calendar. The attitudes depicted and the composition shown are similar, although her garb is more stereotypical, seemingly Andalusian, as are her physical features, eyes, hair. Her arms are long, her bust powerful, her attitude, arrogant.

The rocket, which signals the beginning of a fireworks spectacle, is a symbol of happiness and –besides being a nod to the commissioning company’s products– makes reference to the vital, sparkling force embodied by female sexuality. Viewers that manage to match the protagonist’s gaze will undoubtedly pick up on this, as well as many other, themes.

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