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Luis Ricardo Falero, born in Granada in 1851, originally pursued a career in the Spanish Navy, but gave it up to his parents' disappointment. He ran away and walked all the way to Paris by foot, praying for his food and lodging by doing crayon portraits. In Paris, he became known to his countrymen and to many of his Paris friends as „Don Luis“, and studied art, chemistry and mechanical engineering. The experiments that he had to conduct in the latter two were so dangerous, however, that he decided to focus on painting alone. After Paris, he moved to London.

Luis Ricardo Falero (1851-1896)

Falero is one of a number of painters concentrating on the nude, shown in a highly-finished manner, and in a mythological or fairy tale setting. His painting „Wine of Tokai“ shows a luscious young nude lady leaning across a wine caraffe. The model, Maud Harvey, posed for numerous of Falero’s paintings. In 1896 Maud Harvey sued Falero for paternity. The suit alleged that Falero seduced Harvey when she was 17 first serving as his housemaid, and then model. When he discovered she was pregnant, he dismissed her. She won the case and was awarded five shillings per week in support of their child. Shortly after, Falero died at the University College Hospital in London, at the age of only 45.

„Wine of Tokai“
(1887)