The Fortune Teller

Sert brilliantly constructed the composition of this panel through a perfect equilibrium of masses and colours which he visually structured with the help of geometrical elements: rectangles at the bottom and triangles at the top. A wooden pole emphasises the verticality of the format and the sense of compositional balance, as does the striking red zone of the woman’s dress. The figures are arranged around the principal group, which is positioned almost frontally in relation to the viewer and located on a small stand that functions as a platform. They are united by an invisible, slightly undulating horizontal line. As a consequence of both these elements and of others such as the fall of the curtain, which is open in the manner of a theatrical curtain, the visual organisation of this scene inevitably suggests the theatre. A group of mules completes the composition towards the bottom. They are a purely decorative element used on numerous occasions by Sert who enjoyed visiting animal fairs.

There is no reason to believe that Sert was personally interested in fortune tellers. However, the popular, folk nature of the subject would have appealed to him and he depicted it on several occasions. In all of them the fortune teller is a picturesque old woman of a type favoured by Goya, with an exaggerated nose and very wrinkled skin. She is one of a large number of figures that are characteristic of Sert’s particular iconography and which frequently reappear throughout his work.