JOSÉ CUSACHS Y CUSACHS (Montpellier, France, 1851... Lot 1

JOSÉ CUSACHS Y CUSACHS (Montpellier, France, 1851 - Barcelona, 1908). "Equestrian Scene. 1902. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated in the lower left corner. On the back there is a label from the Military Museum of Barcelona, following a retrospective of the painter held in 1965. Measurements: 60 x 100 cm; 73 x 117 cm (frame). The equestrian theme was undoubtedly Josep Cusachs' favourite one, in whose treatment he revealed his stylistic genius and technical audacity, both in military subjects and in genre scenes. The scene in question belongs to the latter group. The three galloping horses make the composition dynamic, advancing towards us along a dirt track. The equine anatomy and the movement of the legs are a testament to Cusachs's observational skills, as he rendered the impetus of the trot with realistic rigour. Behind the first group, a wide panoramic view opens up and several carriages can be glimpsed amidst the soft mists of a greyish sky. A sketchy brushstroke to represent the crowds coexists with the tight, precise brushstrokes to define the clothes and horses in the foreground. José Cusachs was accidentally born in France, as his parents were travelling there, but his art and his life were always linked to two places: Barcelona and Mataró. In 1865, after passing a competitive examination, he entered the Artillery Academy to pursue a military career. However, in 1882, after a brilliant career that led him to become a captain in the army for war merits, he requested retirement to devote himself to painting. Trained in Barcelona under the guidance of Simón Gómez, he completed his artistic studies with a stay in Paris at the studio of Édouard Détaille, one of the greatest experts in military themes, a genre that became Cusachs's favourite. Among military themes, this artist was particularly fond of cavalry, owing to his passion for horses. In 1880 he settled in Barcelona and began an extensive production of military studies, which were reproduced in F. Barado's work entitled "La vida militar en España" ("Military Life in Spain"). Previously, before leaving the army, he had worked as a caricaturist and chronicler of a Spain immersed in a maelstrom of political events, in which he was immersed due to his military status. It was precisely the success of these early works that prompted him to finally abandon his previous career to concentrate on art. During these years he made his work known through individual exhibitions, such as those he held regularly from 1884 onwards at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, which were always a great success in terms of sales and critical acclaim. By 1890 he was already a regular exhibitor at the gallery, where he showed new works every week. The bond between Cusachs and the Sala Parés was so deep, in fact, that after the painter's death the gallery fell into a period of absolute decadence. Cusachs also took part in official competitions; in 1887 he obtained notable recognition at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid with three paintings, one of which was acquired by the regent Maria Cristina ("En el campo de maniobras" ("On the Manoeuvre Field"). In 1891 he took part in the Berlin Exhibition and won the Gold Medal for his work "Division Manoeuvres". Cusachs was also a celebrated military portraitist, and painted General Prim, King Alfonso XIII in military uniform and Mexican President Profirio Díaz, among others. Other notable works by his hand include "Flight into Egypt" (1904) from the monastery of Montserrat, one of his few religious canvases, and "Abnegation" and "Distant Thought". Stylistically, Cusachs was a man open to innovation, although his work was always filtered through the filter of appreciation, study and meditation. Thus, he adopted those aspects he considered to be of value, and discarded the rest.