149 - Catalan School, 20th century.

Catalan School, 20th century. Coastal landscape. Oil on canvas. Signed “C. Bargalló” in the lower right corner. Measurements: 48 x 59 cm; 70 x 79 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. In this painting, the artist presents a serene coastal view. A few boats beached on the sand enliven the landscape, though otherwise the artist focuses on conveying the serenity and luminosity of the Mediterranean. The landscape genre began to gain prominence in Catalonia during the Romantic period, particularly after a chair in landscape painting was established in 1824 at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts (the “Escola de Llotja”). In the second half of the 19th century, the influence first of the Realism of Courbet and other painters and later of the French Impressionists would foster the painting of landscapes from life, an interest in capturing the atmosphere, and an increasingly free and agile brushstroke. During this second half of the century, a highly influential artistic circle would emerge: known as the Olot School, centered around the painter Joaquím Vayreda (a disciple of another important landscape painter, Ramón Martí Alsina), who transformed the Garrotxa region into a prominent center for painting and influenced numerous contemporary artists. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, various artists such as Santiago Rusiñol, Joaquín Mir, Joaquím Sunyer, and others fostered a renewal of the landscape genre in Catalonia, introducing the influence of the French Post-Impressionists.