Horse-drawn Carriage and Child on the Beach

Two works characteristic of this skilled exponent of preciosity from Valencia. Self-taught, solitary, embittered by his poor health and some failures, such as his abortive attempt to pass competitive exams for a Chair in landscape painting at the San Carlos School in Valencia, Navarro did not usually enter competitions or show his pictures in exhibitions, but nevertheless found a significant international market through art dealers. He travelled to South America (1908), where he triumphed in Río de Janeiro, but preferred to return to his native Valencia. Monreal describes his work as “from Fortuny to Sorolla”, since his painting spanned both the virtuosity of the tableautins characteristic of the painter from Reus and the luminous beaches of his great countryman. Traditional themes and the pursuit of brilliance, often accentuated by deft reflections of light on the skin of his figures, are representative of his style and appear over and over again in his very numerous works, which in recent years have increased in value, especially in price. The approximate dating of these two works has been done with the expert advice of Dr. Carlos González, specialist in nineteenth century painting, especially that of Fortuny.