Josep Amat

JOSEP AMAT PAGÈS (Barcelona, 1901 - 1991).
"View of Barcelona from the outskirts".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
With Sala Parés label on the back.
It has some flaws in the frame.
Measurements: 50 x 66 cm; 71 x 86 cm (frame).

This painting offers an unusual and vibrant vision of the city of Barcelona, observed from a peripheral and natural environment. The composition is structured from a foreground dominated by vegetation, roads and slender trees (cypresses and fruit trees) that act as an organic frame from which the urban view opens up in the background.

The work is characterized by a loose, energetic and impastoed brushstroke, with an expressive use of color. Greens, ochers and reddish tones in the earth contrast with the blues and violets of the horizon and the sky, creating a dynamic and changing atmosphere. The city is suggested rather than described, integrated into the landscape through chromatic stains that transmit depth and a sense of distance.

The treatment of space and the chromatic intensity reveal a sensibility close to post-impressionism, where the emotion of the landscape prevails over the literal representation. The whole conveys movement and vitality, capturing the relationship between the immediate rural environment and the urban sprawl of Barcelona. A painting of remarkable expressive force and testimonial value, representative of 20th century Catalan landscape painting.

Josep Amat is remembered as the main exponent of 20th century Catalan impressionism. His work is represented in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the Museum of Montserrat and the National Art Museum of Catalonia.