Segundo Matilla

SEGUNDO MATILLA MARINA (Madrid, 1862 - Teià, Barcelona, 1937).
"Marina".
Oil on panel.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 27,5 x 27,5 cm; 47,5 x 47,5 cm (frame).

In this small panel, Segundo Matilla approaches a coastal landscape from a poetic point of view. The scene is constructed with a visible brushstroke, light but sure, that seeks the global impression of the place. The mountainous horizon is suggested by ample masses of color modulated in blues and greens, while the water is resolved with brief, superimposed touches that transmit movement without resorting to descriptive effects.

The almost square format concentrates the composition and reinforces the sensation of immediacy, as if it were a sketch taken from nature. The presence of small figures in the foreground introduces scale and dynamism, but without displacing the real interest of the work: the relationship between light, surface and color.

Matilla developed a landscape painting that evolved towards increasingly free solutions in the application of color. A painter from Madrid, fully integrated in the Catalan school, he was the teacher of outstanding painters of the following generation, among them his nephew, Joaquim Terruella, and Antoni Rosell Altamira.

His work is currently exhibited in various museums, such as the aforementioned Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid, the Prado Museum (works on deposit at the Economic Court of the Central Administration and the Municipal Museum of Malaga), the Pablo Gargallo Museum in Zaragoza and the National Art Museum of Catalonia, as well as in important international private collections.