Although the artist dated it “Seville 1890” when presenting it for an exhibition, this oil painting was in fact made in 1883, during a trip that Regoyos made to this Andalusian city from Brussels, where he had been living since 1879. Travelling in the company of some Belgian friends, Regoyos acted as their guide on their tour of Spain, arriving in Seville in January 1883. A lover of the Spanish guitar and song, he brought his friends to places where they could be introduced to flamenco.

The piece, studied and identified by Juan San Nicolás, has participated in various exhibitions under different titles, of which Seguidillas gitanas (1887) and Danseuses à Seville (1914) were the only two given to it directly by the artist himself. It was also exhibited as Baile flamenco en Sevilla (1951) and Baile Andaluz, Sevilla (1966).

This piece presents a typical scene of gypsy seguidillas in which the handclapping provides the rhythm. He probably did the work right there, for the figure that appears in the forefront with his back turned to us, wearing the typical cape from Madrid and in no way Andalusian, may be his friend Théo van Rysselberghe (1862-1926), who wore this garment regularly. We ought to highlight the speed and assurance with which the piece was painted, and the artist’s ability to faithfully capture the scene where a couple is dancing while the rest of the figures sing and clap. Also noteworthy are the texture that he achieved using the spatula for the floor, the wall of the house and the low parapet, as well as the colours of these surfaces which, in combination with the soft blue of the sky, provide the necessary contrast and depth to portray the twilight in Seville.

Regoyos visited Seville on two occasions, but the theme and the way he painted this piece is more in consonance with the first trip in 1883, from which there is plenty of correspondence and works of similar subject matter, and when he was more interested in popular themes, rather than with the later period in 1887.