227 - Pair of Art Nouveau planters, ca. 1900.

Pair of Art Nouveau planters, ca. 1900. Glazed porcelain. Measurements: 120 x 40 x 40 cm and 104 x 35 cm. 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 two planters up for auction are interesting examples of decorative ceramics associated with Modernism, sharing an ornamental style based on organic forms and nature. Both stand on slender pedestals and support vessels with curved, mixtilinear profiles, enriched with profuse floral decoration partially modeled in relief. Flowers, sinuous stems, leaves, scrollwork, and medallions cover the surfaces, enhanced by a brilliant polychromatic palette dominated by shades of green and pink. Despite their formal and chromatic differences, the two lots share a preference for fluid lines, the integration of structure and ornament, and the prominence of the plant motif—features that are fully characteristic of Modernism and Art Nouveau from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, movements that granted ceramics a prominent role within the decorative arts.