185 - NARCÍS MARTÍ CABOT (Barcelona, 19th century – 1914).

NARCÍS MARTÍ CABOT (Barcelona, 19th century – 1914). “Views of Barcelona.” Pairs of watercolors on paper. Signed. Measurements: 32 x 25 cm; 35 x 27.5 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. A Catalan painter, draftsman, and illustrator active between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Narcís Martí Cabot developed his career in the fertile artistic milieu of Barcelona at the time, closely linked to the rise of the illustrated press and to a figurative tradition grounded in mastery of drawing. A relative of Ramon Martí i Alsina—a leading figure in the renewal of 19th-century Catalan realism—Martí Cabot cultivated a realistic style with a strong narrative sense, particularly well-suited to illustrating genre scenes and current events. Part of his body of work appeared in publications such as *La Ilustración Artística*, one of the leading illustrated cultural magazines in turn-of-the-century Barcelona. His compositions are notable for the attention paid to the human figure, the expressiveness of his characters, and his ability to create images with an immediately apparent narrative. Particularly significant are his scenes depicting the human consequences of war, in which he combines meticulous academic execution with a pronounced emotional sensitivity. His work thus belongs to the context of a generation of Catalan artists who, caught between nineteenth-century realism and the new artistic movements of the turn of the century, found in painting, drawing, and graphic illustration different ways to represent the society and events of their time.