47 - Spanish School, late 19th–early 20th century.

Spanish School, late 19th–early 20th century. "River Landscape." Oil on canvas. Signed illegibly in the lower left corner. In good overall condition. Measurements: 50 × 61 cm; 68 × 77 cm (frame). Provenance: Estate of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Artistic and heritage collection originating in the legacy of Catalan painters Ramon Martí Alsina (1826–1894), a seminal figure of 19th-century Catalan Realism, and his son Ricard Martí Aguiló (1857–1935). Passed down and enriched across successive generations, the collection brings together works from the original holdings of both artists alongside acquisitions made by their descendants. Dedicated to preserving and recovering the family legacy, the descendants actively reacquired works by the painters as they entered the market, progressively expanding the collection to encompass paintings, sculptures, archaeological artifacts, and other items of artistic and historical significance. The luminosity and the balance between naturalistic observation and chromatic synthesis place this work within the renewal of Spanish landscape painting at the turn of the century. The composition is organized around a stream that runs horizontally across the scene, while a large tree in the foreground acts as a framing element and draws the eye toward the mountains in the background. The loose, visible brushstrokes build up the masses of vegetation using different shades of green, contrasted with the blues and pinks of the mountains and the sky. The small figure accompanied by an animal introduces an element of everyday life and establishes the scale of the landscape, without disrupting nature’s dominance. The direct treatment of light and the simplification of certain forms reveal a sensibility close to that of landscape painting from life, characteristic of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.