JOSEP CUSACHS (Montpellier, France, 1851 - Barcelona, 1908). "Military parade". Oil on canvas.

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19th & 20th Century Fine Art

By Setdart Auction House

Dec 14, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-12-14 08:00:00 2021-12-14 08:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : 19th & 20th Century Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/19th-20th-century-fine-art-7992
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• Lot Description
  JOSEP CUSACHS (Montpellier, France, 1851 - Barcelona, 1908). "Military parade". Oil on canvas. Retains label on the back of Barrachina and Ramoneda. Signed in the lower right corner. Measurements: 35 x 70 cm; 56 x 91 cm (frame). Scene of realistic technique and aesthetics, in which the author gives the protagonism to a group of soldiers that form a troop. The protagonists are distributed throughout the longitudinal landscape, creating a sense of multitude, which is reinforced with the use of a triangular composition, whose main edge is in the center of the work. It is interesting to note that all the soldiers are with their backs to the viewer, or in profile, none of them in front, which indicates that the artist tries to convey a sense of group, and unity, where they do not stand out one over the other, but the exercise of their collaboration. Despite being a scene where the military activity is completely passive, showing a stop along the way. José Cusachs was accidentally born in France, as his parents were there on a trip, but his art and his life were always linked to two locations: Barcelona and Mataró. In 1865, after passing a competitive examination, he entered the Artillery Academy to pursue a military career. However, in 1882, after a brilliant career that led him to be Captain of the Army for war merits, he asked for retirement to devote himself to painting. Trained in Barcelona under the direction of Simón Gómez, he completed his artistic studies with a stay in Paris, in the studio of Édouard Détaille, one of the greatest experts in military themes, a genre that would be Cusachs' favorite. Within the military themes, this artist was especially inclined to cavalry, due to his passion for horses. In 1880 he settled in Barcelona and began an extensive production of military studies, which were reproduced in the work of F. Barado entitled "La vida militar en España" (Military life in Spain). Previously, before leaving the Army, he had worked as a caricaturist and chronicler of a Spain immersed in a maelstrom of political events, in which he was immersed due to his military condition. It was precisely the success of these early works that prompted him to finally abandon his previous career to focus on art. During these years he would make his work known through individual exhibitions, such as the ones he held regularly from 1884 at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, always obtaining great success in sales and critics. In 1890 he was already a regular exhibitor at the gallery, where he showed new works every week. The bond between Cusachs and the Sala Parés was so deep, in fact, that after the painter's death the gallery fell into a period of absolute decadence. Cusachs also participated in official competitions; in 1887 he obtained notable recognition at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid with three paintings, one of which was acquired by the regent María Cristina ("En el campo de maniobras"). In 1891 he participated in the Berlin Exhibition and won the Gold Medal for his work "Maneuvers of division". Cusachs also stood out as a famous military portraitist, and painted, among others, General Prim, King Alfonso XIII in military uniform and Mexican President Profirio Díaz. Other notable works by his hand are "The Flight to Egypt" (1904) from the Monastery of Montserrat, one of his few religious canvases, and "Abnegation" and "Distant Thought". Stylistically, Cusachs was a man open to innovation, although his work was always filtered through the filter of evaluation, study and meditation. Thus, he adopted those aspects he considered of value, and discarded the rest. The bulk of his work is collected in the Museum of Modern Art in Madrid and the National Art Museum of Catalonia, as well as other centers such as the Museum of Montserrat, the National Museum of History, the Capitanía General of Valencia, etc.
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