19 - RAMÓN MARTÍ ALSINA (Barcelona, 1826 - 1894).

RAMÓN MARTÍ ALSINA (Barcelona, 1826 - 1894). "Two young people. Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower right corner. Gilded frame with lack of polychrome and some marks of non-active xylophages. Measurements: 126 x 92 cm, 140 x 105 cm (frame). As we observe in the canvas in tender, Martí Alsina was a fervent defender of realism. In the field of children's portraiture the protagonists are represented with great naturalness, often in everyday scenes and with an appearance that reflects their environment and condition. The two girls we observe are characterized by their melancholic and pensive gaze, conveying great emotional depth. Considered today as the most important figure of Spanish realism, Martí Alsina is framed within the European avant-garde of the time. He revolutionized the Spanish artistic panorama of the 19th century, was a pioneer of the study of life and the creator of the modern Catalan school, as well as the master of a whole generation, with disciples of the importance of Vayreda, Urgell or Torrescassana. He began his studies in Philosophy and Literature, alternating them with night classes at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona until 1848. From 1850 his artistic career was consolidated, and in 1852 he began his teaching career. . In 1853 he travels to Paris, where he visits the Louvre and becomes familiar with the work of Horace Vernet, Eugène Delacroix and French romanticism. Later he will know the work of Gustave Courbet, the greatest exponent of realism. In 1859 he was appointed corresponding academician of the Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi in Barcelona. His first important exhibition was the General Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona in 1851. From that moment on he exhibited regularly in Barcelona, Madrid and Paris, and was invited to the Universal Exhibition of the French capital in 1889. Among his prizes, the medals obtained in the National Exhibitions of Madrid stand out, third in 1858 with the work "Last day of Numancia" and second in 1860 with his landscape. In his last years he lived in seclusion, focusing his efforts on the search for new forms of expression, with a brushstroke close to impressionism. Works by Martí Alsina are preserved in the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the MACBA, the Museum of the Abbey of Montserrat and the Museum of l'Empordà, in Figueras.