Joaquim Mir

JOAQUIM MIR TRINXET (Barcelona, 1873 - 1940).
"Vall del Madriu", 1933.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Painted during the campaign of Andorra (1932-34).
Similar works catalogued in "Joaquim Mir a Andorra", by Francesc Miralles.
Measurements: 38 x 36 cm; 52 x 50 cm (frame).

Joaquim Mir visited Andorra in 1932, 1933 and 1934. He went out to paint "a plein air", planting his easel in the most attractive meadows to his photogenic look, being interested especially in the shades that the light prints in different hours of the day. The painting that we show here is part of this group of Andorran works, of which the Sala Parés realized an exhibition in the year 1934 and Francesc Miralles gathered in a study on the artist. The "Vall de Madriu" is known for its lush forests and pristine atmosphere, which were a source of inspiration for Mir. The great Catalan landscape painter transforms the high mountain landscape into a pure symphony of vibrant colors, loose brushstrokes and a perspective that borders on the abstract, seeking to capture the sensory essence of the landscape rather than its literal representation. It also reflects the monumental serenity of the Andorran valley, a natural space that at the time was practically untouched, far from the hustle and bustle. The work "Vall del Madriu" is an outstanding example of Mir's artistic evolution towards his last period, at the peak of his maturity, when the poetic and emotional perspective of the environment to the detriment of realism reaches a high level.

Joaquim Mir studied at the School of Fine Arts of San Jordi in Barcelona and in the workshop of the painter Luis Graner. His style was also influenced by the School of Olot, his father's hometown. He soon felt uncomfortable with the official teaching, anchored in a conception of realist painting, so in 1893 he founded together with other colleagues (Nonell, Canals, Pichot, Vallmitjana and Gual) the "Colla del Safrà", to investigate together in the pictorial initiatives of the end of the century. In 1896 they came to participate as a group in the III Exhibition of Fine Arts and Artistic Industries, to which Mir presented two works that give us a clear idea of the ideals of the group: "La huerta del rector" and "El vendedor de naranjas". Also, since 1897 he frequented the artistic environment of "Els Quatre Gats", where all the artists who knew the European avant-garde met, which helped him to mature in the compositional study of landscapes with figures in different planes of depth. From this period are "Slopes of Montjuic" (1897) and "The Cathedral of the Poor" (1898), the two masterpieces of his youth. In these years he took part in the Fine Arts Exhibitions of Barcelona, in their editions of 1894, 1896 and 1898. Winner of a second medal at the Madrid Exhibition of 1899, that same year he moved to the capital in order to compete for a scholarship in Rome. When he was unsuccessful, he went with Santiago Rusiñol to Mallorca, on a trip that would be a definitive turning point in his career. Mir was dazzled by the Mallorcan landscape, specifically by Sa Calobra, which was an inexhaustible source of inspiration for him. From then on, the artist deployed a whole combination of impossible colors, the result of his personal interpretation of the majestic nature of the island. The brushstrokes became longer and became stains that almost made objects and spatial references disappear. In 1901 he exhibited the fruit of this first Mallorcan stage individually at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, and again obtained a second medal at the National Exhibition. After a period of illness that forced him to move to Reus, in 1907 he won the first medal at the International Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona. Since then, settled in Camp de Tarragona, he would not move from the landscape genre, but now the surrounding villages would be the protagonists of his painting. Already consolidated as an outstanding figure of the Catalan panorama, he acquired the definitive national recognition in 1917, when he was awarded the National Prize of Fine Arts. Four years later he married and settled permanently in Vilanova i la Geltrú. His successes followed one after the other, and in 1929 he won the first medal at the International Exhibition in Barcelona. The following year he won the medal of honor at the National Exhibition in Madrid, an award he had been pursuing since 1922. Although he was mainly a native painter, he had solo and group exhibitions in Washington, Paris, Pittsburg, New York, Philadelphia, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires and Venice. Mir is today considered the most outstanding representative of Spanish post-impressionist landscape painting. His work is preserved in the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, among many others.