37 - RICARD MARTÍ AGUILÓ (Barcelona, 1857–1935).

RICARD MARTÍ AGUILÓ (Barcelona, 1857–1935). "Garden with a Pond" Oil on canvas. Signed “Ricardo Martí” in the lower left corner. Shows minor losses of paint. Measurements: 60 × 100 cm; 100 × 140 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 large format and rich color palette make this work a particularly elaborate example of Ricardo Martí Aguiló’s landscape style. The artist creates a lush garden centered around a still pond, where the vegetation, flowers, and reflections take center stage. The composition is organized by the watercourse, which guides the viewer’s gaze from the foreground toward the depth of the scene, while a fountain crowned by a bird figure introduces a vertical axis and an ornamental focal point at the center of the scene. The painterly treatment combines a meticulous depiction of specific elements—the flowers, foliage, and sculpture—with a freer brushstroke in the masses of vegetation and the reflections on the water. The luminosity of the sky and the succession of greens, pinks, yellows, and reds create a bright, Mediterranean atmosphere, while the pine groves in the background lend depth and balance to the exuberance of the foreground. Ricard Martí Aguiló was the son and disciple of Ramon Martí Alsina and was also trained at the Escola de Llotja in Barcelona. He painted landscapes, seascapes, portraits, and still lifes, maintaining a close connection to his father’s realist tradition, although he gradually developed a more luminous and chromatic style. He participated in the 1891 General Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona, and that same year he painted the Portrait of Narcís Monturiol, which is currently part of the Gallery of Illustrious Catalans at the Barcelona History Museum.