RAMON MARTÃ ALSINA (Barcelona, 1826 - 1894).
El camino" ("The Road").
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Conservation: lack of paint. Old restorations.
Measurements: 130 x 59 cm; 137 x 66 cm (frame).
As usual in his work, Martí Alsina achieves in this landscape an impression of a window open to a calm and moving horizon. Nature is imbued with a romantic mood, the sublimity of which dwarfs the figures, resolved with a few intuitively applied brushstrokes. Considered today as the most important figure of Spanish realism, Martí Alsina was part of the European avant-garde of the time. He revolutionised the Spanish artistic panorama of the 19th century, was a pioneer of the study of life and the creator of the modern Catalan school, as well as the master of a whole generation, with disciples of the importance of Vayreda, Urgell and Torrescassana. He began his studies in Philosophy and Literature, alternating them with evening classes at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona until 1848. After completing this first apprenticeship and deciding to take up painting, he took his first steps in the Maresme region, where he began to earn his living by painting portraits in a naturalistic style and landscapes "à plen air". In 1852 he became a teacher of line drawing at the Escuela de la Lonja in Barcelona, and two years later he began to teach figure drawing, a post he held until the accession of Amadeo of Savoy to the throne. In 1853 he travelled to Paris, where he visited the Louvre and became familiar with the work of Horace Vernet, Eugène Delacroix and French Romanticism. Later he became acquainted with the work of Gustave Courbet, the greatest exponent of realism. In 1859 he was appointed a corresponding member of the Sant Jordi Academy of Fine Arts in Barcelona. His first important exhibition was the General Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona in 1851. From then on he exhibited regularly in Barcelona, Madrid and Paris, and was invited to the Universal Exhibition in the French capital in 1889. His prizes included medals at the National Exhibitions in Madrid, third in 1858 for his work Last Day of Numancia and second in 1860 for his landscape. In his last years he lived in seclusion, focusing his efforts on the search for new forms of expression, with an undone brushstroke close to Impressionism. His subjects include numerous landscapes and seascapes, urban views (especially of Barcelona), portraits and human figures, genre scenes, temperamental female nudes, history painting and biblical scenes. He rarely devoted himself to still lifes, although he also painted some still lifes. Works by Martí Alsina are kept in the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of the Abbey of Montserrat and the Museum of l'Empordà in Figueras.