Cecilio Pla and his Pupils in the Painter's Studio Celebrating Jesús Valverde's 'Alternative', Given by Gabriel Morcillo
Ca. 1915. Gelatin / Collodion.Not on display
In around 1915 a ceremony took place in which Jesús Valverde and Gabriel Morcillo – both pupils of Pla – celebrated the fact that the young Valverde had sufficiently prepared to progress from drawing to painting. The event took place in the studio on Calle San Marcos and was captured in a series of images.
Among those depicted in this photograph are Carolina del Castillo, Pancho Cossío, Mariano Moré, Gabriel Morcillo and Jesús Valverde, laureate with a sword and palette in his hands. The back wall is decorated with the painting Los Isidros de Segovia, a copy of Athena Tying her Sandal and a large storage unit full of items.
Carolina del Castillo (1867–1933) was an Asturian painter who began her artistic career as an adult. After beginning her apprenticeship in Gijón, she moved to Madrid where, she attended Cecilio Pla’s studio beginning in 1914. Her fourth son was Gonzalo del Campo y del Castillo, an amateur photographer who took this photograph.
The presence of women in the painter’s classes was commonplace, and it is known that other young women attended his classes – although the Asturian painter was the most prominent amongst them. Others included Sara Ruiz Albéniz, Polonia Chávarri (1868–1955), María Bernaldo de Quirós (1910–2015) and María Turina Garzón (1914?–1932) – who died prematurely – as well as Pla’s daughters, Pepita and Cristina.
Sánchez Torija, Beatriz, Cecilio Pla y su relación con la fotografía.. Boletín del Museo del Prado, 2019-2021, p.167-179, f.8
