Villa del Río

A portrait of Lupe Sino commissioned by Manolete in 1947 arrives at the Casa Museo de Villa del Río

The Ayuntamiento de Villa del Río adds to the Casa Museo Manolete a canvas of Lupe Sino painted in 1947 commissioned by the bullfighter, which has remained six decades outside Spain.

Francisco CG · Published on October 12, 2026 at 22:52

Mujer recostada en blanco y negro junto a un retrato enmarcado de una mujer con vestido claro de noche. — Photo: Ayuntamiento de Villa del Río

The portrait of Lupe Sino, the partner of Manuel Rodríguez Sánchez «Manolete», is now part of the collection of the Casa Museo Manolete in Villa del Río. The work was commissioned by the bullfighter himself in the spring of 1947, months before his death in Linares on August 29 of that year.

A commission that never reached its destination

According to the account circulated by A. Estévez Reyes, the canvas was intended for the drawing room of Manolete's mansion in Córdoba. The bullfighter's death prevented it from occupying that place. Ten months later, the painter delivered the work to Lupe Sino, who decided to keep it. After Manolete's death, Lupe Sino went to the other side of the Atlantic and the painting remained in Madrid in the custody of her sister. On her definitive return to Spain she was able to hang it in her living room, although she only enjoyed it for a few months before she died. In 1966 her sister Kika emigrated to Chicago with her daughter Mari Carmen and took the portrait with her, and it remained for approximately half a century in a home in the United States.

Six decades away and the return

After six decades outside Spain, the work now joins the museum's collection. Estévez Reyes explains that he himself has acted as the connecting thread to make the return possible. The addition joins the collection of a space promoted by Francisco Laguna Menor, dedicated to research, documentation, conservation and dissemination of the bullfighter's legacy. The Ayuntamiento de Villa del Río has expressed its gratitude to Estévez Reyes for his contribution to the return of the painting and to Laguna Menor for his work at the head of the Casa Museo.

How to visit

The Casa Museo Manolete is at calle García Lorca, 3, in Villa del Río (Córdoba). Visits are by appointment on the telephone number 625 54 45 41.