JOSÉ CUSACHS Y CUSACHS (Montpellier, France, 1851... Lot 50

JOSÉ CUSACHS Y CUSACHS (Montpellier, France, 1851 - Barcelona, 1908). "Horses and military man". Oil on canvas. Unsigned. Size: 30 x 50 cm; 41 x 61 cm (frame). The moments of rest in open country, of military men with their horses, was the favourite theme of Cusachs. In this canvas, attributed to the author, the palette of ochre and blue in contrast with the green of the fields, illuminates the calm scene, characteristic of the French painter. The soldier has his back to us and seems to be engaged in a wordless dialogue with his horses, whose anatomy and shiny coat have been expertly worked. In the distance, a confused mass suggests a large army deployment. 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 for 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, due 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. The bulk of his work is housed in the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid and the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña, as well as other centres such as the Museo de Montserrat, the Museo Nacional de Historia, the Capitanía General de Valencia, the Jefatura de Artillería de Valladolid, the Galería de Capitanes Ilustres of Barcelona City Council and prominent private collections, such as the Santiago Gramunt collection.