The Smoker
José Benlliure y Gil was one of the most successful Spanish painters of his day. He trained at the Academy in Valencia and, after living in Madrid, he moved to Italy where he resided between Rome and Assisi from 1879 to 1912. He was director of the Spanish Academy in Rome from 1903 and exhibited throughout Europe and in South America, being honoured with numerous awards. Despite gaining critical success as an innovator for his grandiose historical scenes with symbolist content, inspired by his friend Domenico Morelli, he remained a prolific painter of anecdotal scenes typical of commercial genre painting.
