French School; 19th century

French School; XIX century.
"The booty".
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 45 x 62 cm; 57 x 73 cm (frame).
In this work the painter uses a precise brushstroke, loose but short, which defines the shapes and qualities of figures and objects, without downplaying the drawing. This look back to the past is due to the strength of romanticism in the late eighteenth century, which sought to escape from the present by fleeing in time and space. An example of this is this canvas where a multitude of figures meet in a landscape of idealized character and large dimensions. The treatment of the color is very remarkable in the harmony of the golds of coppery shades, the grays and the blue with which the sky is treated. The still life work of the street vendors' belongings stands out, whose tactile qualities are reflected in a precise manner.
The work can be inscribed within the aesthetic current of costumbrismo. Traditionally, 19th and 20th century painting and literature have been interested in popular customs and types. Sorrolla himself commented "I want to give, always within the verism of my school, a representation of Spain; not looking for philosophies, but the picturesque of each region". This trend spread throughout Europe where tourism caused by the grand tour had awakened a demand for characteristic and picturesque images of each country. Therefore, the native painters developed themes of popular character treated with an idyllic perspective in which the peasants used to star in scenes of appetizing and pleasant character. Therefore, this type of works were very common and appreciated in art from the nineteenth century until well into the twentieth century. Where the creation of popular patterns portrayed through an idyllic vision where the author is influenced by an aesthetic and romantic heritage, developed during the second half of the nineteenth century and which resulted in a localist conception of the landscape, in works that reflected the love for the land itself and the beauty and lyricism of the everyday, the close, the familiar.