1 Work , Pal Fried's The Picador, with footnotes

Pal Fried (Hungarian/American, 1893-1976)

The Picador

Oil on canvas

28 x 38 inches (71.1 x 96.5 cm)

Private collection

A picador is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the tercio de varas, which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullfight.

If the public feels that a picador is better than the bull the public will whistle, boo or jeer as they see fit. This is because they do not want the bull to lose all its strength and energy as this can lead to a dull bullfight.

The picador is obliged to give the bull two lances in a first category bullring, but the matador may request that the second be waived in second and third category rings. The bull may receive three lances if it is particularly ferocious.

The aim of the bull to charge the picador is often cited as the biggest test of its courage. A bull that does not charge may be punished with a black banderilla, which although somewhat longer than a normal banderilla is largely symbolic and a mark of shame for the breeder. More on a picador

Pál Fried (16 June 1893 in Hungary – 6 March 1976 in New York City) was a Hungarian artist. His oil paintings were usually of dancers, nudes, and portraits, and his subjects were almost always women, although he also painted Paris, seascapes, and cowboys and landscapes of the American West. He signed his paintings, as is usual in Hungarian, with his surname first as "Fried Pál". At times, this particular artist would make several, almost identical versions of the same oil painting, except he would use slightly different facial expressions and/or would try different colour schemes.

Fried immigrated to the United States in 1946 after World War II, and became a U.S. citizen in 1953. He lived in Los Angeles and New York City. More on Pál Fried

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