Atribuido a José Gutiérrez Solana (1886–1945) - Kitchen Still Life

1. Technical data

Author: Attributed to José Gutiérrez Solana (1886–1945)
Suggested title: Still life with cheese, artichoke and wrapped packages
Period: Early 20th century
Estimated dating: ca. 1910
Technique: Oil on canvas mounted on panel
Dimensions of the work: 29.5 × 39 cm
Dimensions with frame: 45 × 55 cm
Support: Canvas adhered or mounted on rigid support
Signature: Signed “J. Solana” in the lower right corner

Attribution: Proposed to José Gutiérrez Solana based on stylistic, technical, and paleographic criteria.

Condition: Conservation state in line with its age. General craquelure, small losses, and old interventions visible. The back shows a historic intervention on the support.

2. Description

A singular still life from the early 20th century, attributed to José Gutiérrez Solana, built around a small set of foods and everyday objects arranged on a surface covered by clear wrappings or cloths.

At the top dominates a large block of cut cheese, accompanied by an artichoke, while the center of the composition is occupied by various packages, wrappings, and fragments of food overlapping one another.

There is no ornamental refinement intended in the work. The objects are deliberately humble, nearly austere, and appear presented facing the viewer, very close to the spectator and compressed within the pictorial space.

The palette is dominated by deep browns, earthy reds, dark purples, muted greens, and grayish whites, generating a dense and silent atmosphere.

The result distances itself radically from decorative still life and aligns with the Spanish bodegón tradition interpreted from a modern expressive sensibility.

3. Stylistic analysis and comparisons

The attribution proposal to José Gutiérrez Solana should not rest solely on the signature. There are several formal aspects that justify studying the painting in relation to Solana’s production.

First period: Chulos y chulas, 1906

A particularly relevant reference is Chulos y chulas (1906), one of Solana’s earliest known paintings. The Fundación Banco Santander notes in this early work a subdued chromatic range, essentially frontal perspective, and a tendency to blend forms until they almost occupy the entire pictorial surface.

Although the genre is completely different, our painting shares some of these principles:
- muted, earthy palette, minimal spatial depth, predominance of a frontal view, and an extraordinarily compact composition with hardly any empty space between objects.

It is also significant that this painting does not yet show the sculptural solidity that much of Solana’s mature output would acquire.

Las vitrinas, 1910

Another chronologically essential reference is Las vitrinas, dated by the Museo Reina Sofía to 1910.

Although again dealing with a different theme, it is especially interesting the early Solana tendency toward objects, bodies, and forms enclosed in frontally constructed spaces, with a dark atmosphere that reduces depth and brings forms closer to the pictorial plane.

It is precisely around 1910 when we already find the visual universe fully configured that we would later identify with Solana.

Café cantante, ca. 1910–1917

Reina Sofía also holds Café cantante, dated approximately between 1910 and 1917 and executed in oil on panel.

Besides confirming Solana’s use of rigid supports during this initial stage, the work belongs to those early years in which painting progressively gains greater density, darkness, and material character.

In our piece, the combination of deep browns, dirty purples, olive greens, and broken whites is coherent with that initial evolution.

4. The still life and comparison with Bodegón de la lombarda

The most significant thematic comparison appears somewhat later.

The Fundación Banco Santander preserves El bodegón de la lombarda, el cobre, la coliflor y el repollo, dated around 1921 and also signed “J. Solana.”

The institution notes several features particularly interesting for our study: Solana gathers simple objects from his everyday environment, groups them into tonal masses, uses whites from cloths as fundamental elements of the composition, and deliberately avoids empty spaces.

It is precisely here where the relation to our painting becomes especially suggestive.

In both we find:
- ordinary foods turned into protagonists;
- large white planes that structure the composition;
- objects pressed against one another;
- deliberate reduction of depth;
- a range of earth tones, whites, greens, and dark tones;
- and a construction based more on painterly masses than on meticulous drawing.

Naturally, the Lombarda still life from 1921 is a more developed and complex painting. The work we study presents a seemingly more primitive, dry, and experimental facture, a circumstance that — if the attribution were correct — would be compatible with a considerably earlier execution.

5. Technique, signature and authorship hypothesis

The work is signed in the lower right corner with a script that reads:

“J. Solana”

The formula is relevant because it is widely documented in the painter’s autograph works. The Lombarda still life, circa 1921, is signed “J. Solana” in the lower left corner; Nature morte with violín, circa 1943, appears signed “J. Solana” in the lower right; and other documented paintings likewise use this abbreviated form.

This constitutes a favorable indication, but not proof of authorship.

From a technical standpoint, the painting’s material is also interesting. The surface shows areas of impasto, dragging, scraping, and thinner layers that allow the texture of the support to show through.

Technical studies conducted by the Museo Reina Sofía on secure Solana works precisely describe a procedure based on strong contrasts of material and color, substantial impastos, and very fatty shadows rich in binder.

In our painting, the contrast between the dense whites of the wrappings and the much deeper brown-violet background stands out, as well as the use of dark outlines to isolate certain masses.

However, there are reasons to prudently maintain the formulary “attributed to”:
- we currently do not know of an ancient provenance documented;
- there is no certificate or specialist report provided;
- the inscription on the frame label is later and lacks probative value by itself;
- and the painting has not been physically confronted with archival documentation or subjected to scientific analysis.

Therefore, the commercially correct formulation is:

Attributed to José Gutiérrez Solana (1886–1945), ca. 1910.

Not “José Gutiérrez Solana” without reservations.

6. Other points of interest

José Gutiérrez Solana completed his training at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts and already participated in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1904. In 1909 he moved with his family to Santander, initiating there a fundamental stage for the development of his personal language.

The early chronology is particularly interesting for this work.

In 1906 he produced Chulos y chulas; in 1910, Las vitrinas; and between approximately 1910 and 1917 is dated Café cantante. These are formative years in which the artist’s dark and expressive vision gradually solidifies.

Institutional bibliography also notes that Solana began to tackle the still life genre during his Santander period, before the development of his great Madrid still lifes of the 1920s.

Therefore, dating around 1910 is especially interesting as a working hypothesis.

The work currently presents a significant Dutch-inspired black frame, with a gilded inner molding and an identifying plaque bearing the name José Gutiérrez Solana. This plaque is considered a later element and does not by itself constitute authorship documentation.

7. Shipping and conditions

The work will be shipped by a professional specialized company, using a custom-made box and foam protections to guarantee maximum safety during transport.

We offer international shipping worldwide.

Certain international destinations, large-format pieces, or shipments outside the European Union may incur additional packaging, transport, customs, or import costs, which will be borne by the purchaser.

The frame is included as a courtesy with the artwork and will not be the subject of any claim.