Julio Romero de Torres (Spanish, 1874-1930)

Painted circa 1925-29, the sitter for the present work was the actress Elena Pardo. A regular performer at the Romea theater in Madrid, Elena was Romero de Torre’s preferred model during the 1920s. Elena’s figure embodied to perfection the archetype that Coco Chanel promoted internationally – a modern woman with a greased bob hairstyle ‘comme les garcons’.
The present work was one of twenty-seven works selected by the artists for his retrospective exhibition celebrated in the Cordoba Pavilion at the Iberoamaricana fair in Seville in 1930.