The greatest painter of all

Velázquez, the master of the Spanish Baroque

Court painter to Philip IV, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (June 1599–August 1660) is not only a towering figure of the Spanish Baroque, but one of the giants in the history of Western art. Monet and Renoir, Corot and Courbet, Degas and Dalí all acknowledged his influence. Picasso was so inspired by his masterpiece, Las Meninas, that he painted 44 versions of it.

Velázquez's importance lies in his unique naturalistic approach, which contrasts with the idealized forms that dominated his time, the so-called Golden Age. His early works include numerous still lifes, genre scenes of everyday life in Spain in the early 17th century. In them, the warmth and richness of his tones and textures contrast with the mundane nature of the subjects and the humility of his subjects, as, for example, in the work Old Woman Frying Eggs.

Later, his portraits as court painter brought the same naturalism to the highest echelons of society, marking a profound shift in the depiction of royalty, with softer, more relaxed poses that imbued the subjects with as much majesty as humanity and personality. Velázquez's most famous work, Las Meninas, was also painted at the royal court, though its enigmatic composition raises a wide range of questions about reality and illusion, and the relationship between painter, painting, and viewer.

This new edition of TASCHEN's Basic Art 2.0 series presents Velázquez through key works from throughout his career. From humble genre scenes to royal portraits, the exquisite nude in Venus with a Mirror and the mystery of Las Meninas, explore the mastery of composition, the realism of representation, and the masterful handling of tones that made Velázquez, according to Manet, “the greatest painter of all.”