Francisco Ribera Gómez (1907–1996) - Ofrenda

Francisco Ribera Gómez (Madrid, 1907 – Barcelona, 1996)

Offering
Year: 1969 (MCMLXIX)
Technique: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 100 × 80 cm — (39.4 × 31.5 in)
Support / Mounting: Re-stretched canvas; without frame.
Signed in the lower right corner: Francisco Ribera and dated 1969
Inscription on the back: Offering / by Francisco Ribera / MCMLXIX

Condition status
Work re-lined and structurally consolidated. It shows professional restoration on the right strip, where pictorial intervention was carried out respecting the original composition of the artist. A slight visible join line can be seen under certain lights, typical of the integration process of the retouching. The surface presents a uniform varnish and well-balanced colors.

Description of the work

Half-length portrait of a young woman in a black and white dress, sitting beside a basket of fruits — pomegranates, grapes, and apples — symbolizing abundance. The model, with a melancholic expression and downcast gaze, stands out against a neutral background of ochre and greenish tones that enhance the sense of intimacy.
Francisco Ribera's brushwork combines academicism and sensuality: soft impastos, precise light transitions, and a female anatomy treated with delicacy. The overall conveys serenity and technical maturity, characteristic of the best Spanish figurative period of the mid-20th century.

Artistic commentary

Ofrenda exemplifies the technical mastery and lyrical classicism of Francisco Ribera Gómez, one of the great exponents of Spanish academic realism in the 20th century. In his work, the female figure acquires an almost allegorical dignity, in the vein of masters such as Julio Romero de Torres, Manuel Benedito, Álvarez de Sotomayor, or José Cruz Herrera.

The work combines the precision of academic drawing with an intimate and restrained atmosphere, in which light shapes the face and the folds of the dress with remarkable sensitivity. The result is a timeless portrait, blending naturalistic observation with classical idealization.

Brief biography

Francisco Ribera Gómez (Madrid, 1907 – Barcelona, 1996) was a painter, illustrator, and academic, trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, a disciple of Moreno Carbonero and Romero de Torres.
Awarded at the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts (1928 and 1930), he moved his residence to Barcelona in the 1930s, where he worked as a professor and later as the director of the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi (1964–1972).

Academic of San Fernando (1967) and of Santa Isabel of Seville (1971), was awarded the Gold Medal of Arts, Sciences and Letters of Paris (1968) and named Knight of the Order of the Italian Republic.
Her work—recognizable for the elegance of her strokes, mastery of chiaroscuro, and the introspective beauty of her models—was highly valued both in Spain and abroad, with exhibitions in Cuba, Brussels, and Paris.