CARLOS DE HAES (Brussels, 1829 – Madrid, 1898). “High... Lot 105

CARLOS DE HAES (Brussels, 1829 – Madrid, 1898). “High mountain lake landscape with fishermen”. Oil on canvas. Work reproduced in the Spanish Art Archive. CSIC History Institute. LXXX, 318, 2007. p. 178. It presents slight restorations and repainting on the pictorial surface. Signed in the lower left corner Measurements: 100 x 180 cm; 128 x 207 cm (frame). Large canvas showing a spectacular panoramic view of a high mountain valley with a lagoon. The group of fishermen is similar to the one that appears in the work “Fishermen and fishermen. Boat Note” which belongs to the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The view is framed by the artist with the harmonious sense and balance characteristic of Haes's painting, being essential elements to maintain the consonance of vertical and horizontal lines in the structuring of the work in the style of classical Flemish landscapes of the 17th century. The landscape presents an environmental serenity determined by the atmospheric and lighting study of the atmosphere, which Haes recreates with progressive plays of light. Trait with which he manages to convey great realism wrapped in a poetic vision. It is possible that it is a representation of the Picos de Europa or the Pyrenees, where he was between 1872 and 1875, although it is a workshop work, so it may have been finished some time after the indicated date, probably at the latest. artist stage. The Haes family moved from Brussels to Spain in 1835, specifically to Malaga, where Carlos began his training as a disciple of Luis de la Cruz. In 1850 he decided to continue his studies in his homeland, learning from the great Flemish landscape painters. In parallel, he came into contact with contemporary Belgian artists, who exhibited regularly at the Brussels Salons. Once there he worked together with the landscape painter Joseph Quinaux, who introduced him to outdoor painting, key to the formation of his artistic personality. On his return to Spain, Haes began to reap successes, an example of which is the third medal in the National Exhibition of 1856. The following year he obtained the chair as landscape professor at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, a position from which he formed to a whole generation of landscapers in the exercise of painting in the open air, within realism. His students were Aureliano Beruete and Darío de Regoyos. During his artistic career he continued to reap awards, such as the first medal of the National Exhibition of 1858. In 1860 he was appointed academician of San Fernando, the same year that he obtained another first medal in the National. Despite everything, he cannot be considered a follower of plenairism, since he was in favor of working only the sketches from life, while he considered that the painting should be finished in the classical way, in the workshop. However, he was the introducer of landscape painting in Spanish painting, to the point that the first chair of landscape at the Academy of San Fernando was created for him. His views are composed in the classical manner, although with a predominance of the earth over the sky, which normally occupies a third of the canvas. Haes considered the landscape as a genre of connoisseurs, being difficult to treat and understand. He argued that the end of art is the truth found in the faithful imitation of nature, for which the painter had to know nature deeply and not be carried away by imagination. Hence, he preferred to finish the works in the workshop, to capture the specific moment, since nature itself is constantly changing. The artistic genius would lie not only in the technique, but in the own and personal way of contemplating nature by each painter. Most of Carlos de Haes' production is in the Prado Museum, although he is also represented in the Bilbao, Malaga, Valencia and Lleida Fine Arts Museums, in the Jaime Moreda Foundation, etc.