Mi Novia

Mi Novia( "My Girlfriend" ) is a painting byFilipinopainterJuan Luna.Created in the academic-style, it was in an exhibitionhors concoursor not for the purpose of competing for a prize. Instead it was a painting that was aimed to please the viewing public.

Description

InMi Novia,Luna employed an "ingratiating technique" that is predisposed to stifle the personality of the painter. The woman inMi Noviaresembles the "other ladies of distinction" portrayed by the other so-called Salon painters. It is designed to capture the attention of viewers using "glamorous clichés," such as the "girlish tilt of the head", the "dewy eyes", the "auburn curls" on the forehead, the lacy and ornamental "clots" of pigment of the garment, the slickness of the pictorial surface, the banal and sweet rosiness of the facial expression, and the presence of a "winy purple" background. The painting is full of "obvious" gimmickry that evokes an emotional response from the spectators. The attractive face of the woman in the painted picture was set to make the onlookers’ imagination float or wander "in reverie". The characteristic of Luna'sMi Noviais similar toFélix Resurrección Hidalgo's scholarly portrait ofA Girl Carrying a Flowerpot.

According to rumours, this painting is haunted and cursed since Juan Luna was working on it when he killed his wife and mother-in-law using a shotgun due to his suspicions of infidelity.

In spite of Luna's technique and cliché, theMi Noviapainting – together with his other painting theOdalisque– was one of the reasons that made Luna an officially accepted painter at the so-called "Salon of Paris".