JOSÉ LÓPEZ ENGUIDANOS (Valencia, 1760 - Madrid, 1812)."Still lifes".Oil paintings on canvas.Sizes: 38 x 63 cm (x2); 54 x 81 cm (frames, X2).Pair of still lifes with the same landscape format, and a similar aesthetic composition, although the elements that make up the scene differ in each of the paintings. In both pieces, the main elements of the still life are located in the frontal foreground, on a wooden table, a common element in Baroque still life painting. The fruits, which seem to be in a certain disorder, follow a classical pyramid-shaped composition. In both cases, the intense green and yellow colours stand out against the dark background that covers both scenes, and another noteworthy aspect is that in both still lifes the fruit is chopped, indicating the passage of time. This characteristic was common in the Spanish still life scene of the Baroque period, as this suggestion imbued the images with a certain morality, alluding to the passage of time, or tempus Fugit, and of course to religion. As is usual in examples of Spanish school still lifes that follow the 17th-century Baroque tradition, the dark background and humble horizontal surface emphasise the objects that make up the painting.The still life in Spain was one of the most characteristic genres and, due to its special characteristics, is clearly different from the same subject in workshops in the rest of Europe. José López Enguídanos was a painter and engraver who was the brother of the engravers Vicente and Tomás. He trained at the San Carlos Academy in Valencia and at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he was a pupil of Mariano Salvador Maella. He also collaborated with Antonio Ponz when the latter was Secretary of the Royal Academy in Madrid, and accompanied him on a number of trips. He was appointed Académico de Mérito at the Madrid institution in 1795 and was awarded the honorary post of painter de cámara under the protection of Manuel Godoy. He also produced numerous engravings on a variety of subjects and drawings for other engravers, as well as several didactic works. Although he dealt with historical subjects, painted copies of outstanding works and executed several portraits, he was best known for his still lifes, which were to bring him notable success. His work received several prizes such as the General Painting Competitions of 1781 and 1784. Today his work is preserved in certain private collections and in institutions such as the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid or the Casita del Príncipe de El Monasterio de El Escorial, in the Fundación Ignacio Larramendi, engravings in the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, etc.