The Smugglers

French intellectuals and travellers played a fundamental role in making Spain the Romantic country par excellence. In this sense, Pharamond Blanchard was one of the pioneering artists who included the Spanish adventure in his works painting colourful portraits, guerrillas and bandits. This can be seen in this early work, dated 1829, which already depicts what mannerist painting would develop widely as the century progressed. / Following the Peninsular War, smugglers and bandits lived an outlaw’s life based on looting and pillaging, especially in the South. / Pharamond Blanchard would alternate between painting and lithography as from a young age. He arrived to Spain in 1826, invited by José de Madrazo, together with other French artists like Joillivet, to set up the Real Establecimiento Litográfico. At first he works as a lithographer, then as a water colour and independent painter, becoming a chronicler of Madrid through his paintings of popular subjects. More specifically, his bullfight scenes gave him his greatest success.