José Moreno Carbonero was born in Malaga in the boundary of the Perchel and the Trinidad in 1858, and died in Madrid on April 15, 1942. Of precocious artistic vocation, Bernardo Ferrándiz receives it filled with enthusiasm like pupil being still much a child.

In 1872 it presents in the exhibition of the Lyceum the work “The inn of the crown”, with which it obtains golden metal. In 1876 it is given a pension it obtained the golden metal in the National Exhibition with the work “Prince Carlos de Viana”. The painter had just fulfilled 25 years, and thanks to this work it obtains a merit pension to study in Rom.

It is the Italian capital where it would realize one of its most well-known works “La meta sudante”, that was surviving in the Museum of Malaga, and today it is kept in the Palace of the Customs (let’s hope that some day we could enjoy again her) Its epoch of Major splendour understands from 1881 until 1900.

Artist is a grower of several genres. In its facet like History painter, it extracts the historical memory of the literary histories. Abstinence, magic touches of colour, the game of the targets, and the dosage of the luminosity they constitute the most important characteristics in its pictures. It triumphs entirely with the work “The conversion of the Duke of Gandia”. The characteristics of its sceneries are the efficacy of the drawing, the sheen and the framing. In the portrait he was considered to be the teacher of its time.

José Moreno Carbonero was one of the best painters who has had Malaga. Its work was anticipated to the hyper-realism. It is –the past one does not exist in artist who left the legacy of its work to us- a painter of sure and brave stroke, and an excellent portraitist. That’s why, when from 1970 I was studying the painters of the Malaga School one of its works fascinated me, “La meta sudante” that in that time was exhibited in the Provincial Museum of Malaga.

This work was three meters wide for two high one, and I proposed, personal challenge, to copy it like. Nevertheless, so that it was not just as the original, I took three centimetres from him for every side, Due to the dimensions of the picture, and not to take the vision of the original from the visitors of the Museums, while I was doing the copy, I folded the frame in two parts, as if it was a book, putting two hinges in the centre of the frame.

My last painting teacher was Don Juan Baena, who was a pupil of José Nogales, and from him there came to me the influence of the of Malaga painting. Don Juan saying to me that copying of the big painters you were obtaining ten years of advantage on the rest, so I had left that one engraved, and that’s why I decided to copy this big work, that although he supposed three months of big work, the result was worth it, because it had overcome the challenge of copying a big picture.

Leonardo Fernández González