Painter. He received notoriety as as a 19th century Spanish artist and illustrator. He was the older brother of Spanish poet, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. He and his seven brothers were orphans by 1846. Their father José María Domínguez Insausti, who was better known as Jose Dominguez Becquer, had been an artist. The family's surname was changed to Becquer by his father to recognize the family's Flemish ancestry. The only education he received was informal from his relatives. He learned painting in the Andalusian Costumbrita style from his uncle, who had an art studio in Seville. In 1861 he married the daughter of an Irish sailor and after having a daughter Julia and son, Alfredo, his wife abandoned him and her children in 1862. Seeking more income, he and the children moved to Madrid to be near his brother Gustavo that same year. Living in poverty in Madrid, he and his brother's family would began a three-year traveling adventure, and he painted along the trip. Using oil on canvas, he painted the Spanish peasants preforming their activities of daily living, and using outside scenes, which was new to Spanish art. It was during this time he painted “The Dance,” “The Woodcutter,” and “The Spinner.” He painted portraits, with several being of children. His paintings documented the customs and folklore of the time. The brothers eventually settled in Toledo, Spain. In 1865 with his brother's professional connections with the Ministry of Public Works, he received an annual government pension to continue to travel throughout Spain studying local customs and painting them. He had to produce two paintings a year to keep the pension. Many of the sites that he would paint were later destroyed during the war of the 1868 Glorious Revolution of Spain. After the war, his pension was stopped and he became as an illustrator for a magazine in Madrid, where he died of a liver failure in 1870. Three months later, his brother Gustavo died. He was first buried in the Cemetery of Sacramental of San Lorenzo in Madrid, but in 1913 his body was moved to Seville where he and his brother were buried next to each other. He has been given credit for “The Bourbons in Ball,” which is a collection of 89 satirical watercolors showing the Spanish court of Queen Isabella II in lecherous scenes. The narratives that were written with this album of watercolors were credited to his brother Gustavo. Signed with “Sem,” the album was published in 1991. In 1862 he painted Gustavo's portrait, which was later displayed on the 100 Peseta Spanish banknote from 1965 to 1970 and used as a model for 1910 sculptures made for the Roundabout Becquer at Maria Lusia Park in Seville. His 1859 painting “Murican Child” sold recently for over $2.5 million at auction.