Alva B. Gimbel

Alva B. Gimbel, painted in 1925 and held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, documents Zuloaga's American portrait commissions at the peak of his New York fame. Alva Bernheimer Gimbel was married into the Gimbel department store dynasty — one of the great mercantile fortunes of early twentieth-century America — and moved in the highest circles of New York and international society. The portrait was likely commissioned in connection with Zuloaga's celebrated 1925 Reinhardt Gallery exhibition in New York, which was by all accounts the most successful showing of his career in America. New York critics praised his work as bringing the spirit of Velázquez and Goya into the modern age. The Metropolitan's collection of several Zuloaga portraits from this period reflects both institutional acquisition and the gift or bequest of works originally commissioned by private families. Alva Gimbel's portrait would have been part of the social drama of New York's most fashionable portrait season.

The American society portrait adopts Zuloaga's formal Spanish language — dark ground, central figure, strong modeling — adapted to the expectations of New York society portraiture. The costume would likely reflect early 1920s fashion while receiving Zuloaga's characteristically serious treatment. Brushwork is at its most accomplished and efficient in these late commission portraits.