École française (XX) - Sous le grand arbre

Pictura Subastas presents this magnificent work of art belonging to the French school, which depicts the access by a bridge to a picturesque town of light-colored houses and red-tiled roofs, dominated by a tall tower and surrounded by trees and blueish mountains. The painting stands out for its excellent technique and the great pictorial quality it conveys.

· Dimensions with frame: 51x60x5 cm.
· Dimensions without frame: 38x46 cm.
· Oil on canvas hand-signed by the artist at the bottom left.
· The piece is in good 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.

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 packaging and the transportation itself.
Shipping will be carried out by Correos, GLS or NACEX with tracking. International shipping is available.

------------------------------------------------------------------

This painting presents a luminous urban panorama in which a wide road leads the viewer toward a picturesque town of light-colored houses, red-tiled roofs and a tall tower that dominates the skyline. The scene unfolds beside a bridge flanked by a reddish structure on the left and a long railing on the right, while several vehicles and small figures traverse the access to the historic center. The abundant vegetation, the blue-hued mountains in the background and the vibrant distribution of color create a cheerful, dynamic and deeply evocative atmosphere.

The road occupies almost the entire lower area and acts as the main axis of depth. It begins wide before the viewer and gradually narrows as it approaches the houses. Its slightly curved path guides the gaze toward a dark opening at the end of the bridge, arousing curiosity about what lies beyond.

The surface of the road is dominated by yellows, ochres, creams, browns and delicate pinkish tones. Several sinuous lines cross the ground and suggest marks produced by traffic, colored shadows or light reflections. These curves animate the foreground and prevent the road from being perceived as a uniform extension.

In the central area a brown car is seen from behind. Its small size helps establish the scale of the landscape and reinforces perspective. The vehicle seems to move slowly toward the town entrance, becoming a everyday presence that introduces life and movement.

Further ahead another vehicle of bright red color is discerned. Its silhouette stands out against the pale tones of the houses and creates an attractive chromatic accent. The distance between the two cars allows us to imagine calm traffic, typical of a small town away from the hustle and bustle of big cities.

Along the road some human figures are also hinted, represented by small light and pink shapes. Their presence is discreet but sufficient to suggest pedestrians crossing the bridge or heading toward the town streets. These figures enrich the narrative without disturbing the scene’s serenity.

On the left side a structure of intense red color rises, which seems to be part of the bridge or its access. Two solid vertical pillars support inclined elements and create a marked geometric rhythm. The combination of reds, burgundies, whites and browns contrasts with the greens of the surrounding vegetation.

The reddish structure constitutes a powerful lateral frame. Its vertical and diagonal lines balance the large tree on the far right, establishing a correspondence between architecture and nature. The red color reappears on the roofs, the vehicles and small details of the façades, providing unity to the whole.

Under the structure extend several curved walls that delimit the road. Their surfaces mix browns, grays, creams and white reflections and seem to adapt to the terrain’s contours. These wavy lines guide the eye toward the center and provide a smooth transition between the foreground and the urban access.

Behind the pillars appears a lush mass of vegetation in greens, turquoises, blues and yellows. The trees rise above the architecture and form a fresh, luminous background. Some branches stretch toward the sky, while others descend and seem to envelop the bridge.

The left-side vegetation creates a pleasant sense of continuity with the natural surroundings that encircle the town. Light greens suggest sunlit areas, while blues and dark greens mark shadowed areas. This alternation adds volume and movement to the foliage.

On the right side, a long railing accompanies the entire bridge. Its horizontal lines are interrupted by numerous vertical supports that progressively decrease in size toward the background. This rhythmic repetition reinforces perspective and directs attention directly toward the first houses.

The railing colors combine whites, browns, grays and small reddish accents. The lightness of the upper part contrasts with the dark shadows of its base and makes its structure easy to understand. Its line creates a neat boundary between the road and the town beyond.

Beside the railing lies a row of small trees with rounded canopies. Their green trunks and leaves in yellow, bluish and turquoise form a regular succession. These trees soften the presence of the architecture and bring freshness to the promenade.

At the far right dominates a large tree with a sturdy trunk. Its close presence adds depth and serves as a powerful natural frame. The trunk shows browns, grays, greens and reddish reflections that reveal the irregularities of the bark.

The crown of the tree occupies much of the upper right area. Its leaves are formed by dark greens, intense blues, yellows, whites, reds and small turquoise reflections. This extraordinary chromatic variety turns the foliage into a vibrant surface, as if light passed through the branches and produced countless flashes.

The branches descend partly over the houses and the railing, creating an enveloping feel. The density of the crown contrasts with the clarity of the sky, while its curved shapes balance the straight geometry of the tower, the pillars and the façades.

At the base of the tree lies a ground area covered by greens, blues, whites and yellows. These tones may suggest vegetation, roots, stones or colored shadows. Its cool palette provides a very attractive counterpoint to the warm tones of the road.

The town extends across the central band and is composed of numerous overlapping buildings. The houses feature white, cream, gray, pale blue, pink and ochre façades. The reddish and orange roofs visually link one building to another and convey the place’s traditional character.

The buildings adapt to different ground levels, creating an irregular and picturesque urban structure. Some houses seem to be near the bridge, while others climb toward the background. This superposition of volumes provides depth and makes the town appear wide and densely built.

In the left area a taller building stands out with a brown and ochre façade. Its small windows and dark balconies add rhythm and suggest inhabited interiors. The building rises slightly above neighboring houses and helps enrich the urban profile.

The windows and doors appear represented by small black, blue, reddish and gray shapes. Although shown synthetically, they allow imagining balconies, shutters, entrances and shadowed corners. These details give life to the façades and convey the impression of an active community.

The roofs form an attractive succession of diagonals. Their colors vary between reds, browns, oranges, pinks and whites illuminated. The repetition of the coverings creates continuity and guides the eye from the left-side buildings to the central tower.

The tall tower constitutes the main architectural focal point of the composition. Its narrow vertical body rises above the roofs and is clearly cut against the blue-hued mountains. A pointed roof caps the structure and further emphasizes its height.

The tower walls mix grays, muted greens, whites and blueish shadows. Its lower or central part shows a light area that may correspond to an opening or a reflection. This luminosity stands out against the dark body and adds variety to the structure.

The tower can be interpreted as a bell tower, a defensive construction or a historic building linked to the town’s identity. Its presence acts as a visible orientation point from the bridge and from nearby paths. The houses seem to cluster around it, recognizing it as the symbolic center of the town.

To the right of the tower extends a row of narrow, tall façades. Whites, pinks, blues and yellows alternate with dark doors and windows. These buildings seem to accompany the bridge’s path and visually bring the town closer to the viewer.

The lower zones of the buildings show green, brown and grayish shadows that may suggest arcades, walls, entrances or lower-level spaces. This contrast with the illuminated façades adds volume and avoids a flat representation of the hamlet.

The urban core is backed by a chain of mountains of deep blues, purples and grays. The relief stretches horizontally behind the tower and the roofs, creating a solid background line. The mountains wrap the town and reinforce its integration into the landscape.

The nearer elevations show intense blues, while the farther ones soften with purples and grays. This gradation helps perceive distance and creates a natural transition to the sky. The relief provides serenity and stability against the road’s movement and the vehicles.

The sky occupies a broad area in the upper left and central parts. Its light blues, whites, grays and creams suggest a slightly veiled atmosphere. The light seems to diffuse evenly, enveloping the houses, the bridge and the vegetation without producing overly harsh contrasts.

Some clouds or pale bands cross the sky horizontally. These soft shapes balance the tree crown’s density and allow the tower to stand out clearly. The atmosphere conveys the sense of a calm day, possibly a cool morning or a bright afternoon.

The composition sensitively combines warm and cool colors. The ochres and pinks of the road, the reds of the bridge and roofs, and the yellows of the vegetation add warmth; the blues of the mountains, the greens of the trees and the grays of the sky introduce freshness and depth.

The repetition of colors in different areas generates strong visual unity. Red connects the piers with the cars and the roofs; blue links the façades, the sky and the mountains; and green appears in both the nearby vegetation and the trees lined along the bridge.

Despite the abundance of elements, the scene maintains a clear balance. The left-side reddish structure finds its counterpoint in the large tree on the right, while the tower rises in the center as a vertical axis. The road and the railing organize depth and guide the gaze without confusion.

The work conveys an attractive coexistence of history and modernity. The tower, the roofs and the façades evoke the town’s past, while the cars and pedestrians show the continuity of present life. The place preserves its historic identity without appearing stalled or abandoned.

The road can be interpreted symbolically as an invitation to enter and discover the town. The viewer seems to be behind the vehicles, ready to cross the bridge and enter its streets. The dark opening in the background arouses curiosity and suggests that the journey continues beyond what is visible.

Human presence remains subordinate to the landscape, yet essential to give it life. The vehicles move forward, the small figures traverse the access and the houses seem inhabited. All suggests a calm, everyday activity close at hand.

The great multicolored crown of the tree introduces an almost festive component. Its numerous flashes recall illuminated leaves, flowers or changing reflections. This exuberance contrasts with the sobriety of the tower and brings joy to the urban whole.

Overall, this precious painting offers a luminous, colorful and deeply evocative view of the access to an ancient town through a bridge traversed by vehicles and small figures. The reddish structure on the left, the long railing, the vibrant-crowned large tree, the light façades, the warm roofs and the tower rising before the blue-hued mountains build a scene full of depth and vitality. The harmonious union of architecture, nature and history makes the landscape an invitation to cross the bridge and discover the everyday charm of a locality that remains alive between roads, colors and memories.