97 - 19th-century French school.

19th-century French school. “Night View.” Oil on panel. Measurements: 28 x 40.5 cm; 39.5 x 52 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. Dominated by an evocative nocturnal atmosphere, the scene depicts a wide stretch of water bathed in moonlight, whose silvery reflections draw the eye into the depths of the landscape. The sailboats and small figures in the foreground introduce a delicate narrative element, while the architecture and vegetation along the banks gradually blend into the twilight. The loose brushwork and the sharp contrast between light and shadow accentuate the composition’s mysterious and evocative character, linking it to the Romantic sensibility of 19th-century French landscape painting and its fascination with the atmospheric and luminous effects of nature.