Redaccion
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the premiere of Georges Bizet’s opera ‘Carmen’, the Junta has delved into the history and significance of Gonzalo Bilbao’s oil painting ‘Las cigarreras’, in which the painter aimed to portray a realistic image of the working conditions of the female workers at the Tobacco Factory in Seville. This work is part of the permanent exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville.
According to the institution, the myth of Carmen is based on three materialities: the literary character created by writer Prosper Mérimée 180 years ago (1845), the protagonist of the opera of the same name with musical support from composer Georges Bizet 150 years ago (1875), and the image of the strong and hardworking women of the Tobacco Factory in Seville, as depicted by Gonzalo de Bilbao in the painting ‘Las Cigarreras’ 110 years ago (1915). «Is Carmen a product of Mérimée, brought to life through Bizet’s musical reworking, or does her existence stem from the environment that inspired her?» This question, posed by Literature professor Alberto González Troyano in his book on Sevillian myths (‘Don Juan, Fígaro, Carmen’, José Manuel Lara Foundation, 2007), focuses on the three artistic expressions of Carmen.
Each of these expressions had a different fate among their contemporaries. While the French publication of the novel by Hispanist Prosper Mérimée, a connoisseur of Spain and Andalusia, achieved significant success with up to 23 editions before the end of the 19th century, the premiere of Bizet’s opera on March 3, 1875 in Paris, was a minor failure. The semi-empty auditoriums and negative reviews from the press affected the composer so much that he decided to leave the French capital, dying three months later at the age of 37, never having set foot in Seville or experienced the immense fame of his composition.
The public presentation of the oil painting ‘Las cigarreras’ by the great Sevillian painter Gonzalo de Bilbao fell somewhere between success and disappointment. With this work, the artist «paid tribute to the women workers of the Tobacco Factory in Seville, whose figure had been widely idealized and mythologized throughout the 19th century,» stated the Minister of Culture and Sports, Patricia del Pozo.
Instead of focusing on the romantic stereotype of the rebellious ‘Carmen’, Gonzalo Bilbao «captured in his monumental painting the true working conditions that these female workers faced at that time,» remarked del Pozo. The artist had spent at least five years visiting the galleries of the Tobacco Factory to portray them.
This sentiment is echoed by the curator of the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville, Lourdes Páez, «the apparent kindness of the scene depicted in the foreground of the painting, where a cigarrera breastfeeds her child in front of her colleagues, reflects the sad reality of a lack of work-life balance for the female workers at the Tobacco Factory in Seville,» the historian noted. Bilbao’s denunciation of this situation is evident in the large format of the canvas (305 x 402 cm), «typical of large history paintings, giving it an epic character while imbuing it with a Velázquez-like air with loose brushstrokes reminiscent of ‘Las Hilanderas’,» Páez emphasized.
Displayed alongside its eleven preparatory studies at the National Fine Arts Exhibition held in Madrid in the spring of 1915, against all odds, and despite the high expectations among critics and the general public, the painting did not receive the Gold Medal. The reaction from the people of Seville was swift.
Completed by Bilbao during a period of maturity at the age of 55, the painting «marked a turning point in both its social standing in the city and the definition of its artistic style, while also representing a milestone in Sevillian painting at the time,» stated the director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville, Valme Muñoz, where the work is permanently exhibited.
Gonzalo Bilbao’s admiration and fame in Seville were widely recognized upon his return from the National Exhibition in Madrid in 1915. Sevillian society organized a series of «reparation» events, believing he had been unfairly denied the highest recognition. Among these, the massive reception upon his arrival at Córdoba Train Station stood out, attended by, among others, «a group of cigarreras, many of whom had been models for the painter for this work,» highlighted Valme Muñoz.
The cigarreras even conducted a public fundraiser to acquire the medal that had been denied to him. Official speeches, processions, and banquets were not lacking. In 1916, there was a public exhibition of the painting for the enjoyment of all Sevillians, alongside several of its sketches, in the Chapter Room of the Seville City Hall.
A year after his death in 1939, the large painting was donated to the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville at the initiative of his widow, María Roy Lhardy. Gonzalo Bilbao was «closely linked to Sevillian institutions, particularly the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville, to which he dedicated many efforts throughout his life and of which he was president of the board,» praised the director of the museum. Alongside many other works of various themes by the painter, the Sevillian museum also has the fortune of possessing one of the eleven existing sketches of ‘Las Cigarreras’, acquired by the Andalusian government in 1994.
To commemorate the connection between lyricism, literature, and painting, the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville, in collaboration with the Teatro Maestranza in Seville, will be hosting a series of musical and artistic activities throughout 2025 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Georges Bizet’s opera ‘Carmen’ and the mastery of Gonzalo Bilbao’s painting ‘Las cigarreras’. Among these activities are various music-themed talks and tours of the opera’s settings, which will begin, as fittingly as possible, in front of the grand painting, an icon of the Museum of Fine Arts in Seville and the entire city that embraces it.
