Miquel Torner de Semir (1938) - El libro rojo

Pictura Subastas presents this magnificent artwork belonging to Miquel Torner de Semir, which depicts an elegant woman who holds a red book and raises her gaze, surrounded by flowers and colors that symbolize imagination and the richness of her inner world. The painting stands out for its excellent technique and the high pictorial quality it conveys.

· Framed dimensions: 76x68x5 cm.
· Unframed dimensions: 55x46 cm.
· Oil on panel 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 included photographs 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 protection. The shipping price covers both the cost of professional packaging and the transport itself.
Shipping will be via Correos, GLS or NACEX with tracking. International shipping available.

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This painting presents a female figure of elegant and enigmatic appearance, depicted in a moment of reading or reflection. The woman occupies almost the entire composition and appears facing an undefined background, created by a rich combination of soft and intense colors. Her presence is delicate, yet it possesses great visual strength thanks to the direct gaze, the elaborate hairstyle, and the red book she holds between her hands.

The protagonist's face constitutes one of the main focal points of the work. Her large dark eyes observe the viewer with an open and deeply introspective expression. The gaze conveys curiosity, surprise, and a certain melancholy, as if the woman had looked up from the book for a moment upon feeling observed. This visual connection creates an immediate relationship between the figure and the viewer.

The features are defined with delicacy and a slight asymmetry that increases expressiveness. The arched brows, the elongated nose, the small lips, and the rosy areas of the cheeks compose a sensitive and humane face. The light tones of the face contrast with the dark lines of the eyes and hair, making the expression stand out with particular intensity.

The hair rises in a voluminous and sophisticated hairstyle, adorned with large floral shapes in red, pink, violet, and brown tones. These flowers seem to form a crown over the protagonist's head and grant her an almost ceremonial presence. The hairstyle can be associated with femininity, beauty, and tradition, but also with an imaginary world where nature becomes part of the figure's identity.

The clothing is enriched by a wide variety of colors, including pinks, purples, blues, grays, and small reddish accents. The floral and abstract shapes that run along the sleeves reinforce the bond between the woman and the hair ornaments. The dress adds elegance and renders the protagonist an timeless figure, difficult to place in a specific era.

Between the hands she holds a deep red book, placed at the lower part of the composition. Its rectangular shape and warm tone create a powerful contrast with the softer colors of the face and background. The book can be interpreted as a symbol of knowledge, imagination, memory, or access to an inner world that belongs only to the protagonist.

The hands are arranged carefully around the book and suggest that the reading has been interrupted only for a moment. This pause introduces a silent narration: the woman may have found a sentence capable of surprising her, recalling something important, or awakening an unexpected emotion. The spectator cannot know the book's content, but precisely that mystery allows imagining multiple stories.

The background lacks a clearly recognizable space and is formed by areas of gray, blue, violet, green, pink, red, and orange. The shapes overlap around the figure like thoughts, memories, or fragments of a dream. Some dark strokes resemble branches or lines of a distant landscape, while glowing stains seem to expand the imaginative universe born from reading.

Thus the work establishes a relationship between external reality and the inner life of the protagonist. Her body remains still and contained, but the surrounding space seems full of movement, color, and emotion. It can be interpreted that all that abstract universe arises from the pages of the book or from the woman’s thoughts, turning reading into a transformative experience.

Overall, the work represents an intimate moment in which a woman interrupts her reading and directs her gaze to the viewer, inviting them to enter her inner world. The red book, the floral hairstyle, the expressiveness of the face, and the color-filled background build a poetic, mysterious, and deeply evocative scene. The painting conveys sensitivity, imagination, and love for reading, while at the same time celebrating femininity and the richness of inner life.