Arcadi Mas i Fondevila

ARCADI MAS I FONDEVILA (Barcelona, 1852 - Sitges, 1934).
"The verema".
Oil on canvas.
Signed.
Measurements: 26 × 43 cm; 49,5 × 66 cm (frame).

Arcadi Mas i Fondevila approaches a scene of peasant work with a vibrant luminosity and a marked Mediterranean sensibility. The composition focuses on the grape harvesters leaning among the vines, integrated in an open landscape where light, color and daily activity acquire an essential protagonism.

The loose and impastoed brushstroke, together with the range of greens, ochers, blues and yellows, gives the scene a great visual freshness. More than an anecdotal representation of the grape harvest, the work conveys the rhythm of rural work and the artist's interest in capturing popular life with naturalness and pictorial sense.

Arcadi Mas i Fondevila trained at the Escuela de La Lonja in Barcelona with Antonio Caba and Claudio Lorenzale. In 1875 he obtained the first Fortuny scholarship from the Barcelona City Council, which allowed him to further his studies in Italy, where he came into contact with the Neapolitan naturalist school of Domenico Morelli.

On his return to Catalonia, together with Joan Roig Soler, he promoted the luminist school of Sitges, focused on capturing Mediterranean light. He participated in important national and international competitions, winning medals in Madrid and Barcelona, and also excelled as a pastel artist and draughtsman. In 1928 he was commissioned to paint a mural for the Sala de Sant Jordi in the Palace of the Generalitat. His work is represented in the MNAC, the Maricel Museum, the Cau Ferrat and the Sitges Town Hall, among other collections.