1892
oil
From the collection of Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts
La perla del mercader is a 1892 oil by Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma, a Impressionism work, held at Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts.
This painting depicts a woman sitting on a rug, holding a veil over her head with both hands. She is nude, with her legs crossed and her body turned to the left. A man stands behind her, wearing a long white robe and a turban. He has a red sash around his waist and is looking at the woman. The woman's body is illuminated, while the man's face and body are in shadow. The background is a wall with a patterned design, and there is a small object on the floor in front of the woman. The painting features chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to create a sense of volume and depth.
Alfredo Valenzuela Puelma (Valparaiso, 8 February 1856 – Villejuif, France, 27 October 1909) was one of Chile's best-known painters and one of the four artists known as the Great Chilean Masters.
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