Luis Ricardo Falero (23 May 1851 – 7 December 1896) was a Spanish painter. He specialized in female nudes and mythological, orientalist and fantasy settings.Luis Ricardo Falero biography at ArtMagick.com His most common medium was oil on canvas. Falero’s paintings are held mostly within private collections in Europe and the United States, although a watercolour of the Twin Stars is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
In England, Falero sometimes gave himself the title of Duke of Labranzano, a fictitious place name. Biography Falero was born in Granada and originally pursued a career in the Spanish Navy, but gave it up to his parents' disappointment. He travelled on foot to Paris, where he studied art, chemistry and mechanical engineering. The experiments which he had to conduct in the latter two were dangerous, leading him to decide to focus on painting alone.European Orientalists Biography from Mezzo-Mondo.com He was a student of Gabriel Ferrier.Ader Nordman Luis Ricardo Falero Grenade After Paris, he studied in London, where he eventually settled.
Falero had a particular interest in astronomy and incorporated celestial constellations into many of his works, such as The Marriage of a Comet and Twin Stars. His interest and knowledge of astronomy also led him to illustrate the works of Camille Flammarion.
In 1889, in Rochford, Essex, Falero married Maria Cristina Spinelli, and in 1891 they were living at 100 Fellows Road, Hampstead.Luis Ricardo Falero in England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837–1915; 1891 United Kingdom census, Fellows Road, Hampstead, ancestry.co.uk, accessed 32 October 2022 His wife was Italian and had a connection with Atina in the Province of Frosinone."Croce di Guerra al Valor Militare" in Bollettino ufficiale delle nomine, promozioni e destinazioni negli ufficiali e sottufficiali del R. esercito italiano e nel personale dell'amministrazione militare (1937), pp. 5283, 5289
In 1896, the year of his death, Maud Harvey sued Falero for paternity. The suit alleged that Falero seduced Harvey in 1894, when she was 15, first serving as his housemaid, and then model. When he discovered she was pregnant, he dismissed her. She won the case and was awarded five shillings per week in support of their child.
Falero died at University College Hospital, London, at the age of 45, leaving an estate valued for probate at £1,139. His widow María Cristina Falero was his executrix."FALERO Ricardo Luis of 100 Fellows-road Hampstead Middlesex artist died 7 December 1896 at University-college-hospital Gower-street" in Wills and Administrations (England and Wales) for 1897 (1898), p. 12
In 1937, following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, an Italian War Cross of Military Valor was awarded to Riccardo Falero of Atina, Frosinone, referencing Maria Cristina Spinelli, suggesting that Falero had a son posthumously.
Gallery
References
Sources Eduardo Dizy Caso (1997) Les orientalistes de l'École Espagnole. Paris: ACR Édition Internationale. pp. 96–97
External links