Lot Essay
Dionisio Baxieras-Verdaguer made his reputation as one of Spain's foremost genre painters in the latter part of the nineteenth century. His compositions focused on the daily life of the Catalan people and, in particular, the lives of the fisherfolk who made Barcelona the important port that it was. These pictures showed the influence of the French artists Millet, Breton and Bastien-Lepage whose works also celebrated the daily lives and customs of the peasant. As with these French contemporaries, Baxiera's pictures were acclaimed for their realism and enjoyed recognition both at home and abroad. He was honored with medals in Madrid in 1884, Paris in 1886 and Barcelona in 1888, and was invited to participate in the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900.
In 1886, the same year The Boatmen of Barcelona was painted, Baxieras made his first trip to Paris. There he was able to study firsthand the French Realists. This experience had a profound impact on his work. His commitment to naturalism and his sensitive portrayal of the life of the peasants, farmers and fishermen is evident in his idealized depiction of these individuals in his compositions. In order to convey a sense of accuracy to his pictures he worked directly from nature, first sketching "apuntes" hastily en situ to capture his impressions of the scenes, later developing them into finished works in his studio.
Our picture is a version of a larger painting by the same title which Baixeras exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1887 and which was later purchased by the American collector George I. Seney and given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In this work the artist poses three fishermen in their boat in the middle of Barcelona's harbor, taking a moment's break from their labors to enjoy conversation and a smoke. Through the compositional devise of thrusting the boat into the foreground, Baixeras makes the viewer participate in the scene.
In 1886, the same year The Boatmen of Barcelona was painted, Baxieras made his first trip to Paris. There he was able to study firsthand the French Realists. This experience had a profound impact on his work. His commitment to naturalism and his sensitive portrayal of the life of the peasants, farmers and fishermen is evident in his idealized depiction of these individuals in his compositions. In order to convey a sense of accuracy to his pictures he worked directly from nature, first sketching "apuntes" hastily en situ to capture his impressions of the scenes, later developing them into finished works in his studio.
Our picture is a version of a larger painting by the same title which Baixeras exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1887 and which was later purchased by the American collector George I. Seney and given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In this work the artist poses three fishermen in their boat in the middle of Barcelona's harbor, taking a moment's break from their labors to enjoy conversation and a smoke. Through the compositional devise of thrusting the boat into the foreground, Baixeras makes the viewer participate in the scene.