103 - JOAQUIM VANCELLS (Barcelona, 1866–1942).

JOAQUIM VANCELLS (Barcelona, 1866–1942). "Landscape." Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower right corner. In good overall condition, with slight signs of age and minor surface imperfections. Measurements: 47 × 55 cm; 67 × 74 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 atmospheric intensity and the prominence of light place this work within the more lyrical strand of Joaquim Vancells’ landscape painting. The composition is structured by successive layers of mountains that fade toward the horizon, while the dark masses of the pine trees in the foreground stand out against a strip of yellowish sky, creating a striking contrast between depth and proximity. The broad brushstrokes and the range of greens, blues, and ochres reflect Vancells’s evolution from his celebrated gray and misty landscapes of the 1890s toward a progressively more chromatic and vigorous style, while always maintaining a poetic and emotional conception of nature. Joaquim Vancells trained in Terrassa and briefly at the Escola de Llotja, soon turning to plein air painting under the influence of Joaquim Vayreda’s landscape style. He was a founding member of the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc and received significant recognition at the Barcelona Fine Arts Exhibitions, including first prize in 1896 for *Riera de la Barata*. His work occupies a prominent place in the renewal of Catalan landscape painting and is widely represented in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, which holds, among others, *Febrer*, *Sant Llorenç del Munt*, *Riera de la Barata*, and *Montserrat*.