Hermenegildo Anglada-Camarasa

J.O. Marchand (acquired from the artist)
Sale: Ritchie's, Toronto, 2 June 1987, lot 142
Sammer Galleries, Madrid
Purchased from the above by the present owner in the late 1990s

The colours are much more luminous in reality than in the catalogue illustration, which is too dull. There are some areas where the camera's flash bulb has picked up the impasto giving a false impression of the pigments, for example near the centre of the left edge in the rump of the horse. Held in a coved and fluted gilt frame with leaf and berry ornaments. The following condition report has been prepared by Hamish Dewar Ltd, of 13 & 14 Mason's Yard, London SW1Y 6BU: UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The artist's panel is cradled on the reverse and this is providing an even and secure structural support. Paint Surface There is a repaired horizontal split which measures approximately 8cm running in from the centre of the right vertical framing edge (visible on the reverse of the panel). This is entirely stable. There are a few small intermittent paint losses visible along the upper horizontal framing edge. Craquelure is visible throughout the sky and the tops of the buildings in the upper right quadrant of the composition. These are also entirely stable. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows an extremely discoloured varnish layer which prevents the ultra-violet from fully penetrating and it is difficult to ascertain the extent of any previous restoration. Inspection under ultra violet light does however show some small scattered retouchings including several small spots in the lower left and right corners of the composition, small retouchings within the hills above the head of the horse, small spots and lines to the rump of the horse, and small intermittent spots along the upper horizontal framing edge. There is also a thin horizontal line of retouching corresponding to the repaired split mentioned above. Summary The painting therefore appears to be in reasonably good and stable condition and would benefit from cleaning, restoration and revarnishing including the removal of the heavily discoloured varnish layers.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Painted between 1909 and 1911, Fiesta Valenciana is one of the largest and most complete of Anglada's so called 'Valencia paintings'. The artist was then at the peak of his international career, his work being avidly acquired by major collectors, notably the Hispanic Society and the Buenos Aires Museo de Bellas Artes, and also Baron Henri Rothschild, who bequeathed his example to the Musée du Luxembourg.

Despite their Valencian inspiration, for Anglada these works were about much more than merely an interest in the local culture. The male and female falleros, in their jewel-like costumes provided a vehicle for exploring colour and composition, their sinuous figures lending the paintings an organic form. Louis Waucelles, the renowned art critic who coined the term Fauves, said of Anglada’s work that there was a very strong Byzantine element in his paintings. Another painter who used a similar Byzantine idiom was Gustav Klimt (fig. 1). The two artists had a mutual appreciation for each other's work, and exhibited together and shared an award in the Salon di Belle Arti of Rome in 1911.

From his arrival in Paris in 1894-95, Anglada was acknowledged as a great force in the artistic community there, influencing the work of his contemporaries Picasso and Kandinsky. In 1902 he participated in the Libre Esthétique exhibition in Brussels, and in the Schulte Kunstsalon in Berlin. Thereafter, he exhibited internationally in London, at the Venice Biennale, and at the Munich and Berlin Secessionist exhibitions.