Ramon Pou

RAMÓN POU VIDAL (Palma, 1857- 1925).
"Marina".
Oil on canvas.
Presents inscription.
Measurements: 44 x 60 cm; 56 x 70 cm (frame).
In the 20th century, the navy as pictorial genre acquired a renewed relevance when integrating itself in the modern languages and responding to new aesthetic and social sensibilities. Traditionally linked to the heroic or contemplative representation of the sea and navigation, this theme was transformed in the hands of contemporary artists, who explored the coast, ports, ships and waters not only from a documentary approach, but also as a vehicle for introspection, a symbol of freedom or a reflection of social change. The avant-garde incorporated the marine motif through languages such as cubism, expressionism or abstraction, endowing the sea with emotional or metaphysical connotations. Moreover, in a century marked by war, migration and tourism, the maritime landscape became the scene of hallmarks of contrasts between the idyllic and the dramatic. Thus, the marine evolved from its academic tradition into an open plastic category, charged with personal, political and poetic meanings.