Julia, Ramon Casas i Carbó (1915)
In Ramon Casas’s extensive pictorial production, female portraits are particularly common and represent the essence of his activity as a poster artist. In the painter’s hands, this kind of portrait took on an essentially sensual and decorative aspect, since the models were almost always depicted in vaguely suggestive and provocative poses.
One of his favourite models was Julia Peraire, a beautiful lottery ticket vendor in the Plaza de Cataluña. When Casas met her at a gathering at the Maison Dorée, he was dazzled by the freshness and beauty of her youth – she was twenty-five years younger than him.
