Arcadio Mas y Fondevila

ARCADIO MAS Y FONDEVILA, (Barcelona, 1852 - 1934).
"A day in the gondola", Venice.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and located in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 70.50 x 135.50 cm, 94 x 158.50 cm (frame).

Arcadio Mas i Fondevila, one of the great exponents of Catalan luminism and genre painting of the late nineteenth century, transports us to a Venetian scene of refined elegance and atmospheric beauty. Moving away from conventional representations of the city of canals, the artist offers us an intimate and poetic vision of life in the lagoon.
The painting shows a festive procession of gondolas decorated with flowers, where people dressed in period costumes enjoy music and conversation. The composition, balanced and harmonious, is articulated around the main boat, where a group of young musicians and ladies abandon themselves to contemplation and the pleasure of the crossing. The water, with its vibrant surface of reflections and iridescent sparkles, becomes a central narrative element, capturing the essence of the Mediterranean light in its encounter with the misty Venice in the background.
On a technical level, Mas i Fondevila demonstrates a masterful command of color and loose brushstrokes of impressionist roots, managing to capture with precision the humid and ethereal atmosphere of the lagoon. The palette is built in a delicate symphony of ochre, gold and silver tones, in contrast with the dark and deep reflections of the water. The agile and fluid brushwork brings dynamism and freshness, while the details in the faces and clothing reveal his academic training and talent for genre painting.
This work is not only a testimony to the artist's technical virtuosity, but also encapsulates the essence of his aesthetic: an evocative vision of the landscape and the human figure, in which light and atmosphere become protagonists.

Arcadio Mas i Fondevila is one of the most representative figures of Catalan luminism, a movement that explored the effects of light on the landscape and the human figure with exceptional sensitivity. His training at La Lonja in Barcelona, under the tutelage of Antonio Caba and Claudio Lorenzale, laid the foundations for a career marked by his ability to capture atmosphere and color with a vibrant brushstroke.
Thanks to the Fortuny scholarship from the Barcelona City Council (1875), Mas i Fondevila traveled to Italy, where he lived for a decade and came into contact with the Neapolitan naturalist school of Domenico Morelli. In Venice, Rome, Naples and Capri, he absorbed the pictorial richness of the Italian tradition and consolidated a style characterized by its luminous treatment of the scene.
On his return to Catalonia, he settled in Sitges, where he founded the Luminist School together with artists such as Joaquim de Miró, Antoni Almirall and Joan Batlle. His painting, with a clear palette and a poetic approach to reality, earned him numerous awards, such as the medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid (1887) for his work Corpus Christi Procession in Sitges and the first medal at the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona (1888).
Mas i Fondevila's influence also extended to the field of portraiture and illustration, collaborating in publications such as La Ilustració Catalana and being an active member of the Círculo Artístico de Sant Lluc (1899). His work came to be recognized by figures such as Picasso, who copied a nude of his in 1895.
His legacy is preserved in major museums and art collections, including the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), the Maricel Museum, the Cau Ferrat and the Sitges Town Hall, as well as in numerous prestigious private collections.
Mas i Fondevila represents the bridge between the academic tradition and impressionist modernity, managing to combine meticulous detail with a chromatic freshness that makes him an indisputable reference of Spanish luminist painting.