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The scene is set on a riverbank – a feature both recurrent and typical in Emilio Sánchez-Perrier’s landscapes. On this occasion he chose to depict the open spaces of the Seville countryside, with a winding stream that is a tributary of a larger river, perhaps the Guadaíra as it flows through the Gandul plains from Arahal.

The countryside is covered with a profusion of lush vegetation, with the first blossoms appearing on a quiet day in March or April. These may also be the banks of the Guillena, another of the spots frequented by Sánchez-Perrier in the 1880s and 90s.

The attention to detail characteristic of his style (with a photograph in all likelihood as the artist’s starting-point) is complemented by a centred composition with an intricate study of reflections in which a peasant is hauling in a rowing boat while his family, who have disembarked, look on.

The clear, peaceful atmosphere with its sharp photographic objectivity lends the composition an air of calmness and transparency and depicts a supposedly blissful springtime as reflected in the leisurely pace of the country folk, all in an extremely well-executed painting.

Juan fernández Lacomba

Details

  • Title: Boating on the River
  • Creator: Emilio Sánchez-Perrier
  • Creator Lifespan: 1855/1907
  • Creator Nationality: Spanish
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: Granada
  • Creator Birth Place: Sevilla
  • Date: ca. 1890
  • Physical Dimensions: 34.3 x 26.7 cm
  • Provenance: Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza on gratuitous loan to the Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga
  • Type: Painting
  • Medium: Oil on canvas

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