"Under the Parasol", 20th Century Oil on Canvas Attributed to Laureano Barrau

Circa 1925

EMILIO GRAU SALA Spanish, 1911 - 1975 JARDIN FAMILIAL signed "Grau Sala" (lower right) signed again, dated & titled "Grau Sala / 1974 / Jardin Familial" (on the reverse) oil on canvas 18-1/8 x 21-3/4 inches (46 x 55 cm.) framed: 25 x 28-1/2 inches (63.5 x 72.5 cm.) PROVENANCE Private Collection, Barcelona, Spain Emilio Grau Sala came from a family of artists. He was born in Barcelona in 1911 and his father, a good cartoonist, had been one of the promoters of the "Salon des Humanistes" and made his exhibitions normally in "Sala Parés", Barcelona. His first works were exhibited at the Salon des Independents. In the years 1930-33 he had painted under the influence of Cubism, especially that of Torres García. It is from that time a painting of the port of Barcelona, ​​geometric and structural, which completely anticipated what would later be his work. His personality began fully painting watercolors and oils with a certain fantasy character, with a point of decorative instinct and themes full of naivety and grace. Romantic interiors, paddocks, port scenes, sailors, etc. Grau Sala was essentially a Mediterranean painter, son of post-impressionism and enriched with French painting of the last fifty years. Mediterranean because his work has the color and light of that land. He understood and assimilated impressionist painting very well, and for that reason he was never subject to the modules of a formulist realism, nor the sexigencias of the forms. In Paris he found the best environment to give us a fruitful and intense work, because he could use the expressive potential of French art to enrich it. All this made him a very esteemed artist everywhere where his work was known. He was also very often required to illustrate books and publications in Paris. Also his posters were very successful. He painted a large number of subjects, but perhaps the theme of horse racing is where you can see in a very clear way the joyful and optimistic life that was lived at that time. In this fabric there is an explosion of juicy and vivid colors full of ingenuity and simplicity in its composition. Only a teacher could turn the complicated into something simple and beautiful. Before this work we feel a deep emotion, the emotion of before starting a horse race. Joy and nervousness at the same time. Especially since it is a direct emotion. There are no intermediaries between our eyes and what the work intends to tell us. This is precisely what seduces and catches us of this painting. His works can be found in the Museums of the Villa de Paris, L'Ile de France Museum, at the Château de Sceaux, Honfleur Museum, La Rochelle Museum, Barcelona Museum...

ROGELIO DE EGUSQUIZA Y BARRENA LADY IN YELLOW signed "R. Egusquiza" (lower right) oil on panel 28-5/8 X 20-3/4 inches (72.5 X 52.7 cm.) framed: 32-5/8 X 24-3/4 inches (82.5 X 62.5 cm.) Rogelio de Egusquiza y Barrena (1845 – 10 February 1915) was a Spanish painter, known for his friendship with the German composer Richard Wagner, whose works he helped make familiar in Spain He was born in El Astillero, into a well-to-do family. He studied in Madrid and with Léon Bonnat at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1868, after travelling and participating several times in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts, he returned to Paris and settled there. At first, he painted historical scenes, but later turned to genre scenes and portraits in the Academic style. Following the death of Marià Fortuny, he moved to Rome at the invitation of the Madrazos, Raimundo and Ricardo, taking Fortuny's place at their studio through 1875 and attending classes at the Spanish Academy in Rome. He heard Wagner's music for the first time in 1876, after returning to Paris. Three years later, he travelled to Munich to hear a performance of The Ring of the Nibelungen. His enthusiasm for what he heard led him to go to Bayreuth, where he introduced himself to Wagner and became his friend. In the following years, he and Wagner got together again several times; in Venice (1880), Berlín (1881) and Bayreuth (1882); where he was a guest at the premiere of Parsifal. After his first meeting with Wagner, he decided to devote his career to doing works on Wagnerian themes; mostly portraits of the characters rather than specific scenes. During his visits to Germany, he also created portraits of Arthur Schopenhauer (posthumous) and King Ludwig II...

Fine late 19th-century garden portrait in oil. Presented in a decorative gilt-effect frame. Unsigned. On canvas on stretchers.

Parasol on the Beach French School, mid 20th century oil on canvas (very thickly painted), unframed Canvas : 21 x 26 inches Provenance: private collection, Paris Condition: very good...