Joaquín Mir Barcelona 1873-1940

Private Collection, Barcelona
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Original canvas. Apart from one small spot of retouching to the lower centre of the composition, this work is in good condition, with bright colours throughout. Held in an ornate, gold-painted moulded plaster and wood frame.
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Painted circa 1929-1930, the present work depicts the village of Miravet from the surrounding orchards called 'del Masclet', on top of the hill of Miravet d'Ebre in Catalonia, captured by Mir during one of his 'pictorial campaigns'. While living in Vilanova (lot 322), and between 1924 and 1933, the artist explored different parts of Catalonia and the Pyrenees and the surrounding area including Alforja, Tarragona, Montserrat and Andorra where he stayed for days, weeks or even occasionally months. Mir spent the autumn of 1929 and the spring of 1930 in Miravet. During this time he produced a large number of oils and drawings of the hilltop village, crowned by a steep hill and its castle.

Mir was awarded the Medalla de Honor at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid for his paintings of Miravet. Critic Joan Antón Maragall proclaimed that '... the ensemble was truly spectacular, both for the subject matter and for the explosion of colour that Mir showed in his paintings... it produced a different expression for this artist, with his presentation of himself as more extroverted, less concentrated in the majority of the works, less of a slave of the subject matter' (quoted in Joaquim Mir. 1873-1940, Fundación cultural MAPFRE Vida, Madrid, 2004, p. 197).