Cliff with Shellfish and Fishermen
Martí i Alsina, Ramón
1826, Barcelona - 1894, Barcelona
Cliff with Shellfish and Fishermen, c. 1880-1888
Signed lower right: ''R. Martí y Alsina''
Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection on loan to the Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga
Oil on canvas
57,5 x 100 cm
CTB.1995.44
Artwork history
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Brok Auctions, Barcelona, lot 535, December 19, 1995.
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Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection.
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-From Zurbaran to Picasso. Masterpieces from the Collection of Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Shanghai, Shanghai Museum; Pekín, China National Art Gallery, 1996. p. 88.
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-El paisatgisme català; del naturalisme al noucentisme en la Col.lecció Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza. Llorens Serra, Tomàs (ed.). [Exhib. Cat. Andorra, Sala d’Exposicions del Govern d’Andorra, 1997-1998]. Andorra, Ministeri de Cultura, 1997, n. 15, p. 66. [Sheet by Maria Teresa Guasch i Canals].
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-Masterworks from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Tokio, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum; Takaoka, Takaoka Art Museum; Nagoya, Matsuzaka Art Museum; Sendai, Miyagi Museum of Art, n. 26, 1998, p. 70.
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-Aspectos de la tradición paisajística en la Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Málaga, Salas de Exposiciones del Palacio Episcopal, n. 66, 1999, p. 208.
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-Naturalezas pintadas de Brueghel a Van Gogh. Pintura naturalista en la Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, n. 63, 1999, p. 174.
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-De Corot a Monet. Los orígenes de la pintura moderna en la Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Valencia, Museo del Siglo XIX, 2000, p. 48.
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-El paisatge en la pintura catalana del canvi de segle (1870-1935). Col·lecció Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Manresa (Barcelona), Sala d’Exposicions del Centre Cultural el Casino, 2003, n. 3, p. 26, lám. p. 27.
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-Pintura catalana del Naturalismo al Noucentisme. Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, 2004, n. 4, p. 38, lám.
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-El mar en la pintura española. Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Valencia, Sala de Exposiciones del Edificio del Reloj, Puerto de Valencia, 2005, n. 2, p. 36, lám. p. 37.
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-Pintura Catalana del Naturalismo al Noucentisme. Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, Oviedo, Sala de Exposiciones Banco Herrero, 2007, n. 4, p. 38, lám. p. 39.
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-Sisley, Kandinsky, Hopper. Col.lecció Carmen Thyssen, Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Espai Carmen Thyssen, 2013 [Exhib. Cat.]
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-Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga. Colección. Catálogo razonado, Fundación Palacio de Villalón, Málaga, 2014. Pág. 316-317 (Sheet by María Teresa Guasch).
Expert report
This painting depicts a scene typical of the north coast of Catalonia, with a narrow strip of sea between two tall cliffs and boats with baskets containing shellfish found among the rocks by fishermen. The vanishing point in the composition reveals a short length of horizon with the pink glow of the setting sun softly illuminating the sky, the small banks of mist shining through, and a flock of seagulls, drawn by the scent and promise of the catch, wheeling above. In the foreground, the shades of ochre, dark browns and a few bright touches of red and yellow applied with confident well-defined strokes form the rocks and the outlines of the cliff, which merge into the atmosphere and the colour of the sky.
This painting has been dated in the first stage of the last period of the artist’s production, a time characterised by the intensive work he was obliged to do to settle a number of large debts, by the constant concessions to public taste he had to make, by his disillusionment when the critics began to ignore him and pay more attention to his pupils – not even acknowledging him as their master – and by the large format he sometimes chose for his paintings to attract attention and recognition.
Maria Teresa Guasch