Spanish school, early 20th century

Spanish school, early 20th century.
"View of the Sun Gate".
Oil on papier-mâché.
Signed and located. "Fernández Madrid".
Measurements: 77 x 106 cm; 86 x 115,5 cm (frame).
This oil painting represents an everyday scene of Madrid at the beginning of the 20th century. It is centred in an emblematic place still today: the Puerta del Sol. In the scene we can see the traces of the modernity of the new city: the elegant carriages, the passers-by wearing a trench coat and hat or the street traders taking advantage of the crowds in the place. All these details frame the monumental setting of the city, whose buildings are conceived as solid geometrical blocks, without recreating themselves in ornamental details, thus approached from a totally new formal point of view, related to modernism. In addition, the glossy glazes on the ground, reminiscent of rain, and the artist's use of a cold colour palette create an industrial and commercial atmosphere characteristic of early 20th-century painting.