École espagnole (XX) - Sous les arbres

Interesting work belonging to the Spanish school of the 20th century, in which a rural landscape dominated by a group of trees with strong plastic presence is represented. The composition shows a seemingly simple corner of the countryside, interpreted with an energetic brushstroke, abundant pictorial texture, and a palette of intense and contrasted tones.

The scene is organized around the large tree mass situated in the center and on the right side of the composition. The trunks, thick and sinuous, support a compact canopy constructed with broad brushstrokes of greens, blues, and earth tones. On the left a stretch of land opens up, visually leading towards the background, where small reddish-roofed buildings and a distant line of vegetation can be glimpsed.

From a stylistic point of view, the work is inscribed in the tradition of Spanish post-impressionist landscape painting, with clear expressionist influences. The artist moves away from a strictly naturalistic description to concentrate on the landscape’s structure, the intensity of color, and the vigor of the brushstroke. The trees are not treated in a meticulous manner, but are built through chromatic masses and impasto that emphasize their solidity and monumentality.

The technique stands out for a generous application of paint, especially visible in the foliage, the ground, and the trunks. The brushstrokes are broad, visible, and laden with material, creating a vibrant surface of notable tactile richness. Deep greens mix with dark blues, ochres, reddish tones and yellows, generating a color play of great intensity.

The composition shows certain affinities with modern landscape painting developed in Spain during the first half and middle of the 20th century, especially with those currents that reinterpreted the landscape from a post-impressionist and expressive sensibility. The simplification of forms, the density of the material, and the autonomy of color also allow echoes of Fauvism to be appreciated, though subjected to a more earthy and restrained range.

The presence of the path or clearing in the foreground introduces depth and balances the powerful vegetal mass. The light blue sky, treated more uniformly, contrasts with the tree’s density and allows its silhouette to stand out more strongly.

The work is signed in the lower right margin, although the exact reading of the signature presents some difficulty. For its pictorial quality, its rich materiality, and the expressive force of its landscape treatment, it constitutes an attractive piece within 20th-century Spanish painting, with notable artistic and decorative interest.

The painting is framed.

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