Francesc Vidal Gardella (1960) - Paisaje de Hostalets d'en Bas

The work is signed by the artist at the bottom.

On the reverse side, it is titled and dated 1988.

The painting is presented framed.

Artwork dimensions: 33 cm high x 41 cm wide.

Frame dimensions: 47 cm high x 55 cm wide.

The condition of the work is good.

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Artist's biography:

Although born in the neighboring town of Setcases, Francesc Vidal, from a young age, received the pictorial influence of the Olot Masters. Some voices have tried to discredit followers of the work of Vayreda, Berga, Galwey, etc., and part of them are right, because the followers of a school are not those who copy what the masters did, but those who, starting from the masters' pictorial foundations, are able to seek new ways to interpret painting.

Francesc Vidal received, during the years he spent at the School of Fine Arts of Olot, the influence of painters such as Xavier Vinyoles, Vilà-Moncau, Lluís Juanola or Josep Guardiola. From them he learned something important: how to handle landscape, the way to reproduce and define it; based on these teachings, he brings as an artist innovation in color, aesthetics in composition, and soul to the landscapes he reproduces.

Francesc Vidal interprets landscape well, because he knows how to draw well and because he deeply understands the masters' painting techniques, but he does not stop there.

The landscape, like all subjects, requires specific knowledge to resolve it with dignity. La Garrotxa enjoys an exceptional geography that captivates visitors and draws in those of us who live here. Painting it is more difficult than it may seem at first glance. Many foreign artists try, but very few manage to interpret the Garrotxa landscape.

The exuberance of greens makes the artist face the difficult problem of creating works that appear almost monochromatic. The green of the beech and that of the holm oak and the oak and the junipers and the poplars and the aspens and the birches and the grass are different, despite all being green. Capturing the nuances that differentiate them is only possible for those who love the landscape, who know it, and who master the palette to interpret it.

All these colors have a different base, so different that later, when autumn arrives, all these greens will cross the luminous spectrum and give rise to bluish greens that transform into yellowish green, yellow-green, olive-yellow, and yellow. As autumn progresses, from these greens emerge the first yellowish oranges, pure oranges, pinkish oranges that tend toward pink, and, on the other hand, reddish oranges, which will end in reds.

Little by little that orange-pink that has shifted to pink becomes pinkish purple, and the red that has undergone the same process leans toward purplish red, the reddish purple, and finally both, pink and red, meet in a pure purple.

All these colors must be present in the different hues of spring and summer greens.

This is the painter's great challenge when facing a landscape seemingly of a single color.