Quirno’s Dairy Farm

Antonio Gazzano is considered to be a harbinger in the history of the arts in Argentina.
Quirno’s Dairy Farm is a typical 19th-century painting of a rural theme. The oil painting shows us a group of animals in the foreground –some cows grazing– and a peasant with his horse, taking a break. In the middle ground there are two buildings, one of them with a couple of figures at the door, and the milking yard. In the background, where the horizon disappears from sight, a few other isolated buildings can also be seen.
It is impossible not to highlight the presence of the tree that looms up behind the building on the right. Its vertical form interrupts the horizontal nature of this flat landscape. The placid scene evidently represents a moment of hiatus in the tasks of the countryside, perhaps at that hour of the afternoon when the workday is drawing to a close.
The artist paints the animals, vegetation and buildings with refined technical ability. His drawing is precise, and he unfolds all his skill in the composition and handling of color.