69 - Barbizon School, second half of the 19th century.

Barbizon School, second half of the 19th century. "Wooded Landscape with a Stream and a Figure." Oil on panel. Measurements: 28 × 21 cm; 44 × 36 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 work depicts a lush, wooded landscape crossed by a stream flowing between rocks, beside which stands a small figure dressed in red. The composition, with a distinctly vertical format, is structured by large masses of trees in dark tones that frame a luminous clearing in the center, creating a pronounced sense of depth. The loose and vigorous brushwork, the chiaroscuro hallmarks, and the atmospheric treatment of light lend the work an evocative character, reminiscent of the Romantic-Naturalist landscape painting of the second half of the 19th century. The painting reflects the landscape sensibility popularized by the French Barbizon School, whose influence proved decisive in the renewal of European landscape painting. The focus on nature, the richness of textures, and the secondary presence of the human figure all stem from a conception of the landscape as the autonomous protagonist of the composition.