José Martorell

JOSÉ MARTORELL PUIGDOMÈNECH (Cervera, Lleida, 19th century).
"The stagecoach".
Oil on canvas adhered to board.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 61 x 50 cm; 87 x 76 cm (frame).

In this canvas José Martorell represents a travel scene in which an elegant stagecoach pulled by horses crosses a rural landscape at the foot of a great fortress located on a hill. The composition conveys a sense of power, prestige and authority, reinforced by the presence of the castle and the flag flying from its tower, while the contrast between the distinguished travelers and the humble houses of the village reflects the relationship between the nobility and the territory, all wrapped in a romantic and nostalgic atmosphere characteristic of European landscape and historical painting of the time.

A painter of landscapes, still lifes and birds, themes that he often combined in his work, José Martorell Puigdomènech also excelled as an illustrator. He developed a precious style, of academic roots, marked by a rigorous, precise and sure drawing, a brilliant and wisely balanced chromatism and a special sensitivity for light, derived from the Italian and French masters of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Currently José Martorell Puigdomènech is mainly represented in private collections.