Mariano Bertuchi (1884/85-1955) - Calle de Tetuán

This work is an oil painting in a genre scene style with loose brushwork that depicts a traditional urban scene in the city of Tetouan, signed in the lower left corner by the renowned Spanish painter Mariano Bertuchi.

Composition and Elements of the Work

• Architecture and light: The main plane shows a narrow street flanked by high whitewashed walls in white and gray tones, marked by the play of light and shadow cast by an intense sun. In the center stands a large semicircular arch that opens onto a dark passage, through which the movement of people in the background is glimpsed and a strong lighting contrast is created.
• Human figures: Scattered across the scene are several figures dressed in traditional North African garments (such as jellabas and haiks). To the right of the arch, a small group sits on the ground in the shade of the walls, contributing a sense of everyday life, pause, and communal living. To the left, bundles or merchandise are observed, suggesting commercial or transport activity.
• Color: The upper third of the composition is dominated by a clear sky of an intense saturated blue, very characteristic of the luminosity of northern Morocco, which contrasts vividly with the earth tones of the ground and the off-white whites of the buildings.
• Technique: The brushwork is thick, visible, and highly expressive. Bertuchi does not seek meticulous detail, but rather to magistrally capture the atmosphere, the heat of North African light, and the essence of the urban landscape of the medina.

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