Hermen Anglada-Camarasa

Pi de Formentor

Date: c. 1922

Technique: Oil on wooden panel

Dimensions: 63 x 49 cm

Es Baluard Museu d'Art Contemporani de Palma, Ajuntament de Palma collection long-term loan

Reg. no.: 422

On display

This work, which was painted during the artist’s first stay in Port de Pollença (Mallorca), shows a majestic pine tree with powerful branches in the foreground, standing out against a background of sea, sky and mountains. Precedence is taken by the colour and the way the Mediterranean light is captured with swift, dense brushstrokes.

Of the elements of the Mallorcan landscape, Anglada felt a predilection for the little nooks and crannies, the family gardens and above all, the solitary trees, especially pines – he conceived them as a symbol of strength and the struggle against adversities. The title of the work refers to the poem by Miquel Costa i Llobera “El pi de Formentor” (1875) in which the pine tree turns into a humanised presence which proclaims a message of vital affirmation and spirituality. It is one of the most representative poems of the Mallorcan School, and is seen as the culmination of Romantic poetry in Catalan. The inspiration is based on the pine trees that take root on the cliffs of the Formentor headland (Mallorca), a landscape frequented from a young ageby the poet, who also knew Anglada-Camarasa personally.

E.C.

Artist biography

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