Women in the FUNDOS Collection

This painting, attributed to Ramón Casas i Carbó, presents a poetic version of the working woman in the 19th century. During this time, most female workers were employed in textile factories, though women were also commonly found in tobacco factories.  

The working conditions for these women were extreme—12 to 15-hour workdays that led to exhaustion and exposure to various diseases, all while earning very low wages.  

However, little of this harsh reality is visible in the painting. The woman depicted appears more like an idealized figure than a real working woman. This demonstrates how the artist projects a distinctly male and highly romanticized vision of the working woman onto his work.  

This painting by Raimundo de Madrazo transports us to a very different world—the world of bourgeois women. The lady portrayed here represents the women who, even in 1900, still inhabited major European cities like Paris, where the Spanish artist painted this piece.  

Madrazo, the last descendant of an important dynasty of painters, inherited the tradition of the finest Spanish Romantic portraiture from his father, Federico, while also incorporating the exquisite detail, sensuality, and elegance found in the works of his brother-in-law, Mariano Fortuny.  

All of this is evident in a luminous painting where the tactile qualities of the fabrics and the glimmers of her accessories create a beautiful image—one that, perhaps, had little to do with her real life.  

A work by Asturian painter Nicanor Piñole. Among the many portraits he created, most were of his family—particularly of women. This painting depicts a young girl expressing feelings of anguish, loneliness, or isolation.  

Piñole seems intent on portraying the concept of adolescence, specifically female adolescence. The girl's face, caught between childhood and puberty, with a melancholic and distant expression, powerfully conveys the emotions of this transitional stage.  

The delicate, poetic, and sorrowful essence of adolescence is beautifully captured in this feminine image.  

A painting by Serafín Martínez del Rincón that offers a clear view of how Spain’s national stereotypes were formed abroad in the 19th century—and the crucial role women played in this process.  

During this time, what became known as the Romantic Myth of Spain began to take shape, featuring bullfights, bandits, women in mantillas with fans, passion, flesh, and sun—elements that the Spanish state itself helped promote.  

The women in this painting are young, beautiful, and elegant Andalusians. They wear traditional mantillas: white for single women and black for married ones. This traditional attire was mandatory for women when stepping outside their homes, especially on festive days.  

Until the early 20th century, 90% of European women lived in rural areas. In this painting by Spanish costumbrista painter Dionisio Fierros, we see a domestic interior where women are engaged in textile work and wool processing.  

In these rural communities, the concept of the nuclear family had not yet taken hold, and mothers, grandmothers, and granddaughters lived together, as seen in this piece. The elderly woman sits working with wool—though aged, she continues to labor.  

In contrast, the younger woman, though also covering her hair, is allowed to wear bright colors like red, standing out against the older woman’s black attire. As an old Irish proverb says: "A woman in the house is always working."