RICARDO MARTÍ AGUILÓ(Barcelona, 1868 - 1936)._x000D_ "Allegories of food"._x000D_ Series of four oil paintings on canvas._x000D_ Signed with initials in the lower right-hand corner._x000D_ Measurements: 137 x 65 cm; 153 x 82,5 cm (frame)_x000D_ Taking up a long tradition of western art that goes back to the Renaissance, Ricardo Martí here constructs four allegories represented by beautiful girls carrying out tasks related to each of the elements to be represented, in this case the most common types of food in Spain. The first canvas, which alludes to meat, depicts a slender female hunter in male clothing standing over a stream, holding various small game. The second depicts wheat in the form of a young mowing woman standing in front of a field planted with wheat. In the painting of fish, a girl dressed in simple clothes walks barefoot along the seashore, picking up small fish. Finally, we see a lady covered with a blue cloak, carrying various fruits in a basket and in her hand._x000D_ Ricardo Martí trained at the Escuela de la Lonja in Barcelona and in the studio of his father, the painter Ramón Martí Alsina. He held several exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions, and took part in various artistic competitions, such as the Barcelona International Exhibition of 1929. He won a gold medal at the "Plants and Flowers" exhibition (1895), a bronze medal at the Barcelona Exhibition of 1896, and a second medal at the Spanish National Exhibition held in Mexico in 1910. He also taught drawing and painting in the town of Grecia. He specialised in painting still lifes and vases, but also produced portraits and marine paintings. He is currently represented in various private collections.