Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Catalan Post-Impressionist Mountain Landscape, El Montmell Spain
Artist: Mossèn Ramon Gimbert Canals
Title: Font de Volta, Montmell
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 60 x 73 cm / 23.62 x 28.74 in
Signature: Signed lower right, “R. Gimbert”
Date: 1965
Frame: Unframed
Condition: Good vintage condition, consistent with age. Please see photographs for full details.
Inscription: Inscribed, titled and dated on the reverse: “Font de Volta – Montmell – 1965”
Origin: Catalonia, Spain
Description
Atmospheric 1965 Catalan Post-Impressionist landscape by Mossèn Ramon Gimbert Canals, depicting the mountainous surroundings of El Montmell in the Baix Penedès region of Tarragona, Catalonia.
The painting is specifically identified on the reverse as “Font de Volta – Montmell – 1965”. The Font del Montmell is located in the recreational area of La Joncosa del Montmell, a mountainous landscape in southern Catalonia traditionally associated with the walking route known as the Volta al Montmell.
Gimbert presents the landscape through an intensely Mediterranean palette of emerald greens, turquoise blues, ochres and luminous whites. The composition opens from a secluded foreground garden bordered by stone walls and dense vegetation toward the monumental mountain range beyond. A large tree rising at the right edge acts almost as a natural architectural element, framing the view and creating a powerful sense of depth.
The handling of the paint is especially attractive. Areas of broad, vigorous brushwork alternate with thicker passages of impasto, particularly across the mountains, vegetation and cloudy sky. Rather than describing every detail literally, Gimbert builds the landscape through colour, texture and light, giving the scene a distinctly modern and expressive character.
Painted in 1965, only four years before the artist’s death, the work belongs to Gimbert’s late period and shows the confidence of a painter deeply familiar with the Catalan countryside. El Montmell was not an isolated subject in his production. Other documented works by the artist depict the same area, confirming its importance within his landscape painting.
The combination of identifiable location, original reverse inscription, strong Mediterranean character and substantial 60 x 73 cm format makes this a particularly representative example of mid-20th-century Catalan landscape painting.
Biography
Mossèn Ramon Gimbert Canals was born in Sant Quirze del Vallès on 25 May 1882 and died in Barcelona on 31 July 1969. He was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1908 while simultaneously developing a sustained career as a painter. These biographical dates are recorded by the Arxiu Diocesà de Barcelona.
His artistic production concentrated principally on landscape, especially views of Catalonia, rural architecture, gardens, mountain scenery and coastal subjects. El Montmell appears repeatedly among his known works, alongside subjects including Horta, Camprodon and maritime scenes.
Gimbert participated actively in the Barcelona art world. His most significant documented exhibition was a solo presentation at the prestigious Galeries Laietanes in Barcelona from 28 December 1935 to 10 January 1936. The exhibition is recorded in the Institut d’Estudis Catalans repertory of individual art exhibitions in Catalonia and included a catalogue listing the exhibited works and their prices.
His paintings belong to the broader tradition of 20th-century Catalan landscape painting, combining naturalistic observation with increasingly free brushwork, expressive colour and a distinctly Mediterranean sensitivity to light.
Artistic Inspiration
The work belongs to the rich tradition of Catalan modern landscape painting developed from the late 19th century onward. Its expressive treatment of colour and vegetation recalls the Mediterranean landscapes of Joaquim Mir, while its luminous atmosphere and direct observation of nature can also be related to painters such as Eliseu Meifrèn, Santiago Rusiñol and Joaquim Sunyer. Rather than suggesting direct stylistic dependence, these comparisons place Gimbert within the wider Catalan and Spanish tradition in which landscape became a vehicle for colour, atmosphere and personal expression.
Landscape Paintings
Mountain Paintings
Post-Impressionist Paintings
Spanish Paintings
Catalan Art
Modern European Paintings
Mediterranean Landscape Paintings
Post-Impressionism
Catalan Modernism
Spanish Modern Art
Mediterranean Landscape Painting
Catalan landscape, Spanish landscape painting, El Montmell, Baix Penedès, Tarragona landscape, Catalonia painting, Mediterranean landscape, mountain landscape, Post-Impressionist landscape, Spanish Post-Impressionism, Catalan Post-Impressionism, 1960s Spanish painting...
Category
1960s Impressionist Continental Europe - Art
