Costumbrismo is the appreciation of popular things such as popular literature, popular art, or popular music. It began approximately in 1837.
In the 19th century, many artists in Andalusia painted popular scenes. This group of painters were called Costumbristas and they painted differently from painters in the rest of Spain.
Popular is the word for costums or things that people do every day like eating, dancing, singing and cleaning.
The citizens of Seville liked the way the Costumbrista painters painted. The upper classes asked the painters to paint scenes that were a bit exaggerated or focusing on the popular. These scenes were made famous by the Dukes of Montpensier
The upper classes are people who have a lot of money.
In 1870, artists painted the typical customs of the people. They were most interested in folklore. In these paintings there is no difference between people. They paint rich and poor people alike: having fun, being happy and kind.
Folclore: customs of a place that have been done for a long time.
The Majo and the Maja are frequently depicted. They are men and women who live outside of the city and they go to the celebrations with colourful clothes. We can see a majo and a maja of Manuel Rodríguez de Guzmán. We can see another majo and maja in the work Couple of Majos painted by José Gutiérrez de la Vega.
The Majo and the Maja:
They resemble those of his master, José Domínguez Bécquer. In the room we can see paintings of the Bécquer family. We can see more popular characters such as the Bandits of Valeriano Domínguez Bécquer. Bandits also appear in his father's paintings The Merry Gathering and Game of cards. The Bécquer family: fathers, sons and brothers, artists of Seville who were painters, sculptors and writers.
Popular characters such as the majo and the maja appear during the Romantic period. They like dancing and singing in taverns and they are always happy.
A tavern is an old bar or restaurant.
In the painting The Way to the Fair, painted by Andrés Cortés Aguilar, we see a very beautiful and well painted work. In this painting we can see riders, dogs, cows and horses in a party.
A rider is the person who rides a horse
The travelers who had a lot of money and came to Seville are the people who bought these paintings.
