By Rafael Duran Benet
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Mediterranean Palermo Architectural Landscape, Sicily, Italian Cityscape Oil Painting
Artist: Rafael Duran Benet (Terrassa, 1931 – Barcelona, 2015)
Title: Palermo, Sicily
Date: 2002
Medium: Oil on canvas laid on panel
Dimensions: 33 × 41 cm (13 × 16.1 in)
Framed dimensions: 42 × 50 cm (16.5 × 19.7 in)
Origin: Spain
Condition: Good vintage condition
Frame: Framed
Inscription: Titled, located and dated on the reverse: “Palermo, Sicilia – R. Duran – IV 2002”
Description
Atmospheric Mediterranean cityscape painted in Palermo, Sicily, by Catalan artist Rafael Duran Benet. The composition depicts a sunlit historic building partially concealed behind a rhythmic screen of tall trees and palms, combining architecture and vegetation in a distinctly southern European setting.
Duran Benet constructs the scene through loose, expressive brushwork and a luminous Mediterranean palette of ochres, yellows, blues, greens and soft violet-grey tones. The warm Sicilian architecture glows against the intense blue sky, while the pale trunks crossing the foreground create depth and give the composition an almost theatrical structure.
Rather than offering a strictly descriptive architectural view, the artist concentrates on atmosphere, light and colour. Palermo becomes a Mediterranean impression: sunlight filtering through vegetation, warm façades and the visual density of an old southern city. The result is particularly decorative while retaining the spontaneity of painting executed directly from observation.
Painted in 2002 and inscribed “Palermo, Sicilia” on the reverse, the work belongs to Duran Benet’s mature production and reflects his long-standing interest in Mediterranean landscapes and urban scenes.
Rafael Duran Benet
Rafael Duran Benet (Terrassa, 1931 – Barcelona, 2015) was a Catalan painter associated with the post-war generation of Spanish figurative artists. He was the nephew of the distinguished Catalan painter and art critic Rafael Benet and studied with sculptor and painter Manolo Hugué as well as within the artistic environment of his family.
His work is particularly known for landscapes, Mediterranean views, coastal scenes, still lifes and urban compositions. Colour occupies a central role in his painting, frequently employing vigorous chromatic contrasts and an expressive treatment of light rooted in the Catalan and Mediterranean pictorial traditions.
Throughout his career, Duran Benet developed a recognisable figurative language situated between observation and expressive interpretation, with particular attention to the atmosphere and luminosity of southern European landscapes.
Pictorial Inspiration
The painting belongs to the broad Mediterranean tradition in which colour and light become as important as the depicted subject itself. Its fragmented brushwork and direct observation of outdoor light recall the legacy of **Impressionism and Post-Impressionism**, particularly the landscapes of **Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Pierre-Auguste Renoir**.
The saturated Mediterranean palette and simplification of architectural forms also connect the work with the chromatic freedom of **Henri Matisse**, while its intense southern light resonates with the Spanish tradition represented by **Joaquín Sorolla**.
Post-Impressionist Paintings
Landscape Paintings
Mediterranean landscape, Palermo painting, Sicily painting...
Category
Early 2000s Post-Impressionist Landscape Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil, Board