Spanish School; 19th–20th centuries.

Spanish School; 19th–20th centuries.
"Scenes of Daily Life."
Oil on canvas (x4).
They show signs of wear.
Signed.
Measurements: 18 x 23 cm (x2); 22 x 19 cm (x2); 53 x 53 cm (frame).
This set of four paintings bears witness to the continued vitality of Spanish costumbrismo between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a movement that found one of its most fertile themes in scenes of everyday life. Far removed from historical painting or official portraiture, these compositions turn their gaze toward everyday life, spontaneously capturing the spaces where the people’s social life unfolded: taverns, gatherings of street musicians, and festive gatherings marked by wine, conversation, and music.
The works display the characteristic features of Spanish genre painting from this period. The brushwork is agile and expressive, prioritizing the capture of the atmosphere over meticulous detail, while a palette dominated by earthy, ochre, and warm tones helps recreate the intimate atmosphere of working-class interiors. The treatment of light, with a distinctly naturalistic quality, shapes the figures and accentuates the sense of closeness, reinforcing the human and everyday nature of the characters.
These compositions are part of a pictorial tradition rooted in Spanish and European Baroque painting—a tradition that draws on the tavern scenes cultivated by masters such as Murillo and the Italian bamboccianti—but reinterpreted through the 19th-century sensibility of costumbrismo.