106 - AGAPITO CASAS ABARCA (Barcelona, 1874–1964).

AGAPITO CASAS ABARCA (Barcelona, 1874–1964). “Landscape at Sunset.” Oil on cardboard. Signed in the lower left corner. In good overall condition. Measurements: 9.5 × 10.5 cm; 23.5 × 25 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. This small study captures one of the essential aspects of Agapito Casas Abarca’s painting: the immediate rendering of light and its effects on the landscape. The horizon is reduced to a narrow strip, yielding virtually all the attention to a sky rendered with quick, impasto brushstrokes. Yellows, grays, blues, and subtle pinkish hues intermingle to suggest the shifting light of dusk, while its reflection on the ground extends the light source vertically. The small format and the freedom of execution reinforce the work’s character as a sketch from life, more concerned with capturing an atmospheric impression than with precisely describing a specific place. Agapito Casas Abarca trained in Barcelona and pursued a career focused primarily on landscape painting. He was an active participant in the Catalan art scene and exhibited regularly; among other documented exhibitions, he held several solo shows at the Galeries Laietanes in Barcelona between 1934 and 1937. His work is represented in the Ibáñez Museum, among other institutional collections.