Un día en el parque (A day in the park)

Raised and trained in Barcelona, Francisco Miralles moved to Paris at the age of 18, where he remained for the next 27 years. Through his compatriot Eduardo Zamacois, Miralles met the prestigious art dealer Adolphe Goupil, who began to commission paintings from the young artist. While Miralles' early paintings showed the influence of Mariano Fortuny and were executed in dark tones, Goupil encouraged him to lighten his palette and to depict themes of everyday life. Thus, the pictures from his Paris period were characterized by their meticulous brushwork and pastel palette. The present work is an engaging society portrait of an elegant party enjoying a picnic en plein air. The success of the composition is that it avoids the static or "posed" quality of many scenes of its kind. Miralles captures the immediacy of the scene by the touches like the overturned chair at right and the various states of movement of the ladies, each of whom seems occupied within their own world.



Educado en Barcelona, Francisco Miralles se traslada a París a los dieciocho años donde permanecería 27 años. A través de su compatriota Eduardo Zamacois, Miralles conoció al prestigioso galerista Adolphe Goupil que comenzaría a encargarle obras al joven artista. Mientras que sus obras tempranas tienen una clara influencia de Fortuny, Goupil le animó a que aclarara su paleta de colores y que se fijase más en temas cotidianos. La obra que presentamos es un atractivo retrato de unos elegantes personajes que disfrutan de un pic-nic al aire libre. La gracia de esta composición reside en evitar pintar figuras estáticas, como otros artistas hacen en muchas obras de este género. Miralles sabe captar un instante de esta alegre escena.