Enrique Munné (1880-1949) - El pueblo

Pictura Subastas presents this magnificent artwork by Enrique Munné, depicting a small rural settlement extending along a hillside and surrounded by fields, trees, and mountains, in a harmonious celebration of the landscape and life integrated into nature. The painting stands out for its excellent technique and the high pictorial quality it conveys.

• Framed dimensions: 64x83.5x3 cm.
• Unframed dimensions: 54x72 cm.
• Oil on panel hand-signed by the artist at the bottom right.
• The piece is in good conservation condition.
• The work is sold with a beautiful frame (included in the auction as a gift).

The work comes from an exclusive private collection in Girona.

Important note: the photographs included form an integral part of the lot description. Digital representation in an indicative mockup; there may be differences with the actual article in color, scale, and details.

The painting will be professionally packaged by IVEX (https://www.instagram.com/ivex.online/), using high-quality materials to ensure protection. The shipping price covers both the cost of professional packaging and the transport itself.
Shipping will be carried out by Correos, GLS, or NACEX with tracking. International shipping available.

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This painting presents an extensive rural panorama viewed from an elevated position, where a small cluster of buildings is integrated among slopes, fields, and masses of vegetation. In the center of the scene several light volumes in pinkish, lilac, and violaceous tones stand out, grouped on the ground as an architectural nucleus that seems to adapt to the slope. Around it unfolds a broad, undulating landscape, full of chromatic contrasts and changes in level. The image conveys the impression of a living territory, shaped by both nature and human presence, under a gentle clarity that enhances the variety of colors.

The composition is organized through a succession of planes that guide the eye from the constructions and roofs in the foreground to the distant hills on the horizon. In the lower part fragments of houses with reddish, pink, and violet roofs appear, some partly hidden by vegetation and by the irregular terrain. These nearby houses draw the viewer into the scene and create the sense of observing the landscape from another inhabited elevation, perhaps from a path, a natural terrace, or a nearby slope.

In the center rises the most prominent element of the work: a grouping of large light shapes that recall a settlement perched on a rocky slope. Their surfaces present a rich combination of pale pinks, whites, grays, violets, and delicate blueish nuances. The structures overlap and ascend progressively, generating a compact and irregular formation that seems to emerge directly from the earth. The absence of rigid ordering grants the place an ancient, organic character deeply tied to the landscape.

Some of these central shapes have vertical, angular profiles that evoke elevated walls, narrow façades, or rock formations adapted as habitable spaces. Light falls on their broader faces and makes them the main luminous focus of the composition, while the sides and lower zones are defined by dark shadows. This contrast reinforces the volume of the whole and allows the position above the valley to be perceived clearly.

Towards the right appears an isolated building with a sloped roof and violet tones, situated on a small rise. Its separate presence arouses curiosity and provides a point of balance against the large central nucleus. The triangular shape of the roof stands out against the greens and yellows of the surroundings, while the dark base seems to merge with the hillside. This solitary dwelling suggests simple rural architecture adapted to the topology and surrounded by a landscape of great breadth.

In the lower right zone other dispersed structures can be distinguished, recognizable by their reddish and pink roofs. Some are almost hidden among patches of vegetation, paths, and uneven ground, while others appear more clearly. The irregular distribution of these houses creates the impression of a settlement extended across the mountain, with no rigid streets or evident boundaries. Each building seems to occupy the space the terrain allows, reinforcing the union between inhabited space and nature.

The foreground is dominated by an intense mix of greens, yellows, ochres, browns, and violets. Plant forms extend in all directions, creating a dynamic surface pierced by paths, plots, and shaded areas. The chromatic richness evokes a warm landscape, perhaps observed during a season when grasses and fields begin to take on golden tones. Small color variations allow distinguishing different types of terrain and grant great vitality to the scene.

Between the central constructions and the houses in the foreground opens a darker zone, composed of deep browns, bluish greens, garnets, and violets. This space acts as a shadow band that increases the sense of slope. It could correspond to a hollow, ravine, or a part of the slope covered by denser vegetation. Its chromatic depth makes the light volumes above appear even brighter and higher.

On the left extends a wide area of fields bathed in yellows, greens, and ochres. The terrain seems to descend gently from the background toward the center, crossed by small color variations suggesting paths, crops, or clearings among the vegetation. The luminosity of this part contrasts with the blue-toned mass of the right valley and provides the landscape with an attractive alternation between warm and cool zones.

Above these fields several slender, dark trunks rise, forming trees. Some appear almost bare, with vertical branches reaching to the sky, while others retain masses of green, yellow, bluish, and brown leaves. Their silhouettes introduce an upward rhythm and break the horizontality of the distant hills. The darkest tree on the left side has an especially intense presence and serves as a contrasting element against the open clarity of the fields.

The trees around the central nucleus seem to enfold and protect the constructions. Their thin trunks are distributed at different heights, creating a delicate vertical weave over the landscape. Some barely stand out due to their violet or brown tones, while others stand out thanks to small bright reflections. This vegetation provides a sense of intimacy to the settlement and softens the rigidity of its walls and roofs.

In the upper central area a small cluster of intensely yellow flowers or plants appears on one of the elevations. Although a small detail, its luminosity catches the eye and adds a note of freshness to the whole. This yellow point dialogues with the golden fields on the left and with the sunlit zones on the right, visually linking different parts of the composition.

The right side of the landscape is occupied by a deep expanse of bluish and greenish vegetation. The navy blues, grays, turquoise, and violets mix to form a large mass that seems to correspond to a hillside covered with trees and shadows. This cool area contrasts with the yellows and ochres of nearby fields, creating one of the most expressive contrasts in the image. The darkness of the valley adds depth and makes the central part advance visually toward the viewer.

As the gaze moves away, details simplify and shapes become large bands of color. The middle slopes show a combination of blues, bluish-greens, and violets, while the horizon is defined by a long ridge with a soft profile. This gradual transition generates a considerable sense of distance. The landscape seems to continue far beyond what is depicted, extending into a quiet and sparsely inhabited territory.

The horizon line crosses almost the entire upper portion and separates the mountains from the sky with a gentle undulation. In some spots, small violet elevations rise above the crest and break its continuity. The mountains do not appear monumental or abrupt, but serene and distant, wrapped in an atmosphere that softens their profiles. Their presence closes the composition without limiting the impression of breadth.

The sky occupies a relatively narrow band, dominated by whites, creams, soft grays, and delicate blue hues. Its uniform clarity provides luminosity to the whole and avoids competing with the chromatic intensity of the earth. No clearly defined clouds are observed, but a tranquil atmospheric surface that seems to envelop the hills. This simplicity allows all attention to focus on the complexity of the lower landscape.

The chromatic range possesses extraordinary variety. The pinks and lilacs of the central structures relate to the roofs in the foreground, while the greens run through fields, trees, and slopes. The yellows and ochres suggest illuminated areas and dry lands; deep blues create shade and distance; and garnets and browns provide firmness to the nearer parts. The combination of warm and cool colors maintains a constant balance and endows the landscape with intense emotional richness.

Light seems to distribute irregularly over the terrain, illuminating certain parcels and leaving others in shadow. The yellow and light green areas appear to receive direct light, while the blues and violets indicate deeper or protected areas. This alternation produces a sense of atmospheric movement, as if the light advances over the hills and continually transforms the landscape’s appearance.

The elevated perspective allows simultaneously contemplating numerous elements without losing their relation to the whole. The nearby houses establish scale; the central nucleus organizes the composition; the trees mark the different planes; the fields provide luminosity; and the mountains widen the horizon. The viewer can move slowly across the work, pausing at small constructions, paths, patches of vegetation, and color changes that reveal the territory’s complexity.

The scene conveys a deep sense of isolation and serenity. No human figures or obvious signs of immediate activity appear, although the abundance of dwellings indicates it is a inhabited place. This absence of characters allows imagining a silent population during the day’s quiet hours. The houses seem to keep stories inside, while the landscape remains immense and stable around them.

There is also a sense of dialogue between permanence and transformation. The hills and terrain suggest an ancient nature, while the constructions reveal human will to find shelter and settle in a challenging space. The buildings do not dominate the mountain but seem to grow with it, using its slopes and adapting to its forms. This coexistence makes the settlement an extension of the landscape itself.

The painting evokes the charm of rural villages situated in mountainous regions, where architecture, crops, and vegetation form an inseparable unity. The dispersed roofs, the barely hinted paths, and the clear façades awaken the imagination and suggest a life slowed down, marked by the seasons and by daily contact with the land. The landscape thus acquires an emotional dimension linked to home, memory, and belonging.

Overall, the work represents a picturesque rural settlement laid out on a slope, surrounded by luminous fields, slender trees, abundant vegetation, and deep blue mountains. The clear central structures emerge as the visual heart of the scene, while dispersed houses and reddish roofs integrate harmoniously into the relief. The richness of pinks, violets, greens, yellows, and blues transforms the panorama into a vibrant and evocative vision, capable of conveying the beauty of a territory inhabited in perfect coexistence with nature, silence, and the vast horizon.