Article by Ayyub
While looking at the ghastly night sky, you will see witches going to their sabbath. Behold the insanity of the witch grabbing the goat’s horn as the other yells to command; their eyes are lit with madness. Everyone is on top of each other to catch up. Young beautiful witches are doing their ritualistic dance. The motion never stops. With the sensuality and ecstasy of the painting, you feel your blood rush.
Witches Going to Their Sabbath
This is “Witches Going to Their Sabbath,” which was painted in 1878 by an artist you probably have not heard much about. His name is Luis Ricardo Falero, who was completely unknown in his own country, but Paris and London recognized Falero’s depiction of elegance in each and every one of his paintings. Let us figure out who this artist is and his life story.
Luis Ricardo Falero self portrait
On May 23, 1851, Luis Ricardo Falero was born in Granada, Andalusia, Spain to a well-off family. His father and mother, José Maria Falero and Juana Adeladia Candelarese, sent young six-year-old Falero away to Richmond College in London where he learned watercolor painting and the English language. His mastery in watercolor is present in his watercolor artwork “Twin Stars,” and it is now exhibited in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Later on, Falero traveled to France in 1866 for the very first time. However, his stay was short as he returned to Spain to pursue a career in the Spanish Navy like his parents wanted him to. On the contrary, Falero had other goals and dreams, and that led him to sneak back into Paris and make a living out of being an artist, much to his parents’ dismay. Not only was Falero an artist, but he also performed studies of chemistry and industrial engineering at the National Museum of Natural History of France. He was part of the establishment of the International Society of Electricians and later a part of the Belgian Electricity Society. Unfortunately, Falero has stopped conducting his experiments as doing so almost led to his death. From then on, he decided to focus on drawing and painting permanently.
Twin Stars
Luis Ricardo Falero focused on mythological, oriental, spiritual, and fantastical subjects in his works as well as on astronomy. Most of his figures were female nudes depicted ethereally and sensually to the point where critics would claim that his inclination to paint sumptuous women “degenerated into pornography.” This is truly relevant in many of his works such as “Faust’s Dream” and “The Wine of Tokay.” He painted the soft forms of an idealized woman’s body with great mastery and technical skill to the point where it was alluring. Either way, Falero mostly received acclaim from both Parisian and British audiences and became associated with artist contemporaries at his time.
The Wine of Tokay
Luis Ricardo Falero then settled in London where he met and married 14-year-old Marie Cristina Spinelli. But in 1896, a lawsuit was filed against Falero for paternity. A 15-year-old girl named Maud Annie Louise Harvey was a servant for Falero. Somehow, Falero convinced Maud to pose nudely in front of him, seduced her, and got her pregnant; Marie discovered this after. When Falero discovered the pregnancy, he promptly fired Maud. There was a lengthy legal dispute before Maud won the case in which Falero had to pay five shillings per week in support of Maud’s and his child. Falero died shortly after on December 7. He died at 45 years old the University College Hospital in London due to a failed surgery.
Despite Falero’s unpopularity, I have enjoyed many of his paintings, and I hope you did too. His skill in painting the human body in conjunction with fantasy and spirituality does more than enough to pull the viewer into a different imaginary world where anything is possible. I encourage you to look at his artwork and see the beautiful magic itself through the painting’s smooth brushstrokes.
