J. WIRTH (Catalonia, late 19th - early 20th century). "Coastal... Lot 3

J. WIRTH (Catalonia, late 19th - early 20th century). "Coastal landscape". Oil on canvas adhered to board. Signed in the lower right corner. Measurements: 39 x 74,5 cm. Formally we can frame this work within the Spanish landscape painting current of the end of the 19th century, and more specifically with the work of Catalan authors of the time such as Eliseo Meifrèn (1859-1940) who, starting from an initial language of marked detail, evolved towards a clearly impressionist style in his last years. Thus, in works by these artists we see this same purely chromatic and luminous treatment of the landscape, which leaves aside the meticulous description of the real model to capture an impression of nature, a purely visual and purely plastic image, in which the loose, impastoed and precise brushstroke configures forms and spaces based on the juxtaposition of colours. In the work presented here, the forms are blurred and become purely expressive stains; the light, worked and thought out, acquires a renewed protagonism, and nature takes on a new atmospheric dimension, which goes beyond the pure reproduction of reality. It should be noted that there are theories that point out that Eliseo Meifrén used the pseudonym "J. Wirth" to sign many of his paintings, especially those that were far removed from his most identifiable style.