Enrique Munné (1880-1949) - El pueblo

Pictura Subastas presents this magnificent artwork belonging to Enrique Munné, depicting a small rural settlement extended 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 precious frame (included in the auction as a gift).

The work comes from an exclusive private collection in Girona.

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

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

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

The composition is organized through a succession of planes that guide the eye from the buildings and rooftops in the foreground to the distant hills on the horizon. At the bottom, fragments of houses with reddish, pinkish, and violet-tinted roofs appear, some partially 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 hillside.

In the center rises the most prominent element of the work: a cluster of large light forms that evoke a settlement perched on a rocky slope. Their surfaces present a rich combination of pale pinks, whites, grays, violets, and delicate bluish tints. The buildings overlap and ascend progressively, generating a compact yet irregular structure that seems to emerge directly from the earth. The absence of rigid order lends the place an ancient, organic character deeply linked to the landscape.

Some of these central shapes have vertical and angular profiles that evoke elevated walls, narrow facades, or rock formations adapted as habitable spaces. The light hits their broader faces and makes them the main luminous focus of the composition, while the sides and lower areas are defined by dark shadows. This contrast reinforces the volume of the ensemble and allows a clear sense of its dominant position over the valley.

To the right, an isolated building with a sloped roof and violet-toned sits 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 slope. This solitary dwelling suggests simple rural architecture, adapted to the topography and surrounded by a landscape of great breadth.

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

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

Between the central buildings and the houses in the foreground opens a darker zone, composed of deep browns, blue-greens, garnets, and violets. This space acts as a band of shadow that heightens the sense of slope. It could correspond to a hollow, a ravine, or a part of the hillside covered by denser vegetation. Its chromatic depth makes the light-toned volumes above seem even brighter and more elevated.

On the left extends a wide area of fields bathed in yellows, greens, and ochres. The terrain appears to descend gently from the back to the center of the composition, swept by small color variations that suggest paths, crops, or clearings among the vegetation. The brightness of this part contrasts with the bluish mass of the right valley and provides the landscape with an attractive alternation between warm and cool zones.

Above these fields, several trees with slender dark trunks rise. Some appear almost bare, with vertical branches reaching the sky, while others retain masses of green, yellow, blue-tinted, and brownish leaves. Their silhouettes introduce a rising 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 clear openness of the fields.

The trees around the central nucleus seem to envelop and protect the buildings. Their slender trunks distribute at different heights, creating a delicate vertical weave over the landscape. Some are barely distinguishable by their violet or brown hue, while others stand out thanks to small light reflections. This vegetation adds a sense of intimacy to the settlement and softens the geometric harshness of its walls and roofs.

In the upper central area, a small cluster of flowers or intensely yellow plants rises on one of the elevations. Although it is a detail of small size, its luminosity draws the eye and adds a note of freshness to the whole. This yellow point dialogues with the golden fields on the left and the sunlit areas 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 green vegetation. The navy blues, grays, turquoises, and violets blend to form a large mass that seems to correspond to a hillside covered by trees and shadows. This cool zone contrasts with the yellows and ochres of the 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 eye moves away, details simplify and shapes become broad color bands. The middle slopes show a combination of blues, grayish 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 extend far beyond what is depicted, 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. At some points, small violet elevations protrude over 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 sense of breadth.

The sky occupies a relatively narrow band, dominated by whites, creams, soft grays, and delicate bluish tints. Its uniform brightness 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 constructions relate to the roofs in the foreground, while 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 solidity to the nearer parts. The combination of warm and cool colors maintains a constant balance and gives the landscape intense emotional richness.

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

The elevated perspective allows simultaneously observing numerous elements without any losing its relation to the whole. The nearby houses establish scale; the central nucleus organizes the composition; the trees mark the different planes; the fields contribute luminosity; and the mountains widen the horizon. The viewer can traverse the work slowly, pausing at small buildings, trails, patches of vegetation, and color changes that reveal the territory’s complexity.

The scene conveys a deep sense of isolation and serenity. There are no human figures or obvious signs of immediate activity, although the abundance of houses indicates a inhabited place. This absence of characters allows imagining a silent population during the day’s quiet hours. The houses seem to guard stories within, 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 buildings reveal humanity’s will to find refuge and settle in a challenging space. The structures do not dominate the mountain, but seem to grow alongside it, using its slopes and adapting to its shapes. This coexistence turns the settlement into 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, lightly sketched paths, and clear façades spark the imagination and suggest a slow-paced life, marked by the seasons and by the daily relationship with the land. The landscape thus acquires an emotional dimension tied to home, memory, and belonging.

In summary, the work represents a picturesque rural settlement spread across a hillside, 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 rooftops harmoniously integrate into the relief. The richness of pinks, purples, 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, stillness, and the vast horizon.