José Navarro Llorens

JOSÉ NAVARRO LLORENS (Valencia, 1867 - 1923).
"Urban walk".
Oil on canvas.
Signed.
Measurements: 29 x 48,5 cm.; 48 x 68 cm.(frame).

In this urban scene, Navarro Llorens displays one of his most characteristic compositions, where the interest lies not so much in the episode represented as in the capture of the atmosphere, the light and the movement. The painting depicts a lively promenade at the end of the 19th century, with carriages, horses and elegant figures that are diluted in a vibrant, almost humid atmosphere, built with rapid and impastoed brushstrokes.

The artist resorts to a warm and broken palette, with ochers, pinks and grayish blues, which reinforces the sensation of ephemeral life and urban transit. The figures appear barely suggested, subordinated to the whole, in a composition that privileges the immediate visual effect and the fleeting impression, a clear inheritance of his contact with contemporary French painting.

Navarro Llorens was one of the Spanish painters who best assimilated French impressionism, after his training in Valencia and his decisive stay in Paris, where he came into contact with modern painting. His work focuses on scenes of contemporary life, parties, walks, gardens and cafes, always with an elegant and luminous look. He is represented in the Fine Arts Museums of Valencia and Asturias, as well as in the Gerstenmaier collection.