Red Earth

This oil was painted during the time when the artist was working in Caldes de Montbui (1919‑1921). It is one of the most successful works from his mature period, and similar and comparable to the well-known El gorg de la Trona in the Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona. It sometimes appears with the title Tierra roja or Torrent de Caldés. In terms of composition, the artist’s former admiration for Santiago Rusiñol is still apparent in his preference for a wide strip of earth without a story attached. Rusiñol, an exponent of this pictorial device under the influence of Degas, produced excellent examples of it in works such as Arrabal de París, 1891 (Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona). In the bottom half of this picture, which is divided diagonally, practically nothing is happening at all. This picture shows a Mir who is confident, energetic, painting Impressionistically in the murky tones of his Colla del Zafra days, but already displaying full mastery of his means of artistic expression.