Ramón Martí Alsina

RAMÓN MARTÍ ALSINA (Barcelona, 1826 - 1894).
"La model".
Oil on canvas.
Relined.
Without signature.
Attached to the back a label of the Sala Parés in Barcelona.
It has patches on the back.
Measurements: 182 x 89 cm.

With the feet wrapped in a cloth that slides down the legs, the model is shown naked and full body but turns her head as if she wanted to hide her identity, while adopting an ambiguous gesture deceptively modest. Martí Alsina's women are of great carnal forcefulness, which here is accentuated by the black background and by the natural size of the figure. The shaping of their limbs is masterly, which gives the anatomy a sculptural cadence but is free of all idealism, making it vivid, spontaneous and sensual. The silky qualities of the jet hair, the luminous modeling of the forms, the perfect roundness of the knees, etc. denote the imprint of a master.

Considered today as the most important figure of Spanish realism, Martí Alsina is framed within the European avant-garde of the time. He revolutionized the Spanish artistic panorama of the 19th century, was a pioneer in the study of life drawing and the creator of the modern Catalan school, as well as the master of a whole generation, with disciples of the importance of Vayreda, Urgell and Torrescassana. He began his studies in Philosophy and Literature, alternating them with night classes at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona until 1848. Once he finished this first apprenticeship and decided to take up painting, he took his first steps in the Maresme region, where he began to earn his living by painting portraits in a naturalistic style and landscapes "à plen air". In 1852 he became a teacher of line drawing at the Escuela de la Lonja in Barcelona, and two years later he began to teach figure drawing, a post he held until the accession to the throne of Amadeo de Saboya. In 1853 he traveled to Paris, where he visited the Louvre and became familiar with the work of Horace Vernet, Eugène Delacroix and French romanticism. Later he would become acquainted with the work of Gustave Courbet, the greatest exponent of realism. In 1859 he was appointed corresponding academician of the Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi in Barcelona. His first important exhibition was the General Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona in 1851. From that moment on he exhibited regularly in Barcelona, Madrid and Paris, and was invited to the Universal Exposition of the French capital in 1889. Among his prizes, the medals obtained in the National Exhibitions of Madrid stand out, third in 1858 with the work "Last day of Numancia" and second in 1860 with his landscape. In his last years he lived in seclusion, focusing his efforts on the search for new forms of expression, with a brushstroke close to impressionism. Among his themes we find numerous landscapes and seascapes, urban views (especially of Barcelona), portraits and human figures, genre scenes, temperamental female nudes, history painting and biblical scenes. On few occasions he dedicated himself to still life, although he also painted some of them. Works by Martí Alsina are kept in the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, the National Museum of Art of Catalonia, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona, the Museum of the Abbey of Montserrat and the Museum of l'Empordà, in Figueras.