Attributed to Ricard Opisso — Joaquim Mir e Isidre Nonell. Evocació — catalogue entry

WORK UNDER STUDY AND AUTHENTICATION

This work is currently undergoing study and authentication.

For this reason, the piece is not currently for sale and cannot be purchased directly through the website.

Enquiries about this catalogue entry are handled solely for documentary purposes. While the study remains open, purchases, reservations and offers for this work are not accepted.

Two male figures stand in an evocative composition, built through energetic drawing and broad areas of watercolour in ochre, earth and orange tones.

The work itself provides an essential key to interpreting the scene. Beside the figures, a handwritten inscription identifies Joaquim Mir e Isidre Nonell, accompanied by the word «Evocació». The composition therefore seems conceived not as a conventional portrait necessarily made in the presence of the sitters, but as an evocation of two central figures in early twentieth-century Catalan painting.

The piece also bears a signature reading «Opisso», which, together with its graphic and stylistic characteristics, forms the basis of the current investigation into authorship.

The proposed attribution refers to Ricard Opisso i Sala (Tarragona, 1880 – Barcelona, 1966), a draughtsman closely associated with the artistic milieu of Modernista Barcelona, particularly known for his remarkable ability to record people, gatherings, streets and scenes from the society of his time.

Opisso knew first-hand the cultural milieu in which Joaquim Mir and Isidre Nonell developed their careers. This provides a historically coherent context for a composition conceived as an “evocation”.

An evocation of Mir and Nonell

The handwritten identification of the figures is particularly significant.

Joaquim Mir and Isidre Nonell belonged to a generation that played a decisive role in transforming Catalan painting around 1900, although they developed deeply personal and distinctly different visual languages.

In this piece, they are not depicted with the solemnity of a formal portrait. The figures are built through rapid drawing with a strong graphic character, dominated by silhouette, bodily stance and a few features capable of distinguishing the individuals.

The word «Evocació» also introduces a dimension of remembrance. It seems intended to do more than simply identify the figures: it turns the image into a recollection or reconstruction of people belonging to a particular artistic milieu.

Technique and composition

The work combines broad watercolour washes with a considerably more forceful dark line.

The background is rendered in warm, diluted tones that create a loosely defined atmosphere, while the figures emerge through denser, more direct lines. This contrast between a diffuse colour environment and the dark drawing of the figures gives the composition considerable visual strength.

The support, sizeable for an intimate work on paper, allows the figures to have a greater presence than that offered by small studies or editorial illustrations.

The piece measures 40.5 × 29.5 cm.

Technical details

Attribution currently under study: Ricard Opisso i Sala (1880–1966)
Title / inscription: Joaquim Mir e Isidre Nonell. Evocació
Proposed date: first half of the twentieth century
Technique: mixed media, with watercolour and dark strokes in a greasy drawing medium on thick paper
Dimensions: 40.5 × 29.5 cm
Signature: bears the signature «Opisso» on the right-hand side
Inscriptions: «Joaquim Mir i l'Isidre Nonell / Evocació»
Provenance: private collection
Condition: very good overall visible condition, with patina and signs of ageing consistent with the support
Current status: undergoing study and authentication; not available for sale

About the attribution

The attribution to Ricard Opisso is currently being investigated.

The study considers together the signature on the work, the handwritten inscriptions, the technique employed, the characteristics of the drawing, the historical context of the figures depicted and comparison with documented works by the artist.

Until this process has been completed, El Taller del Coleccionista does not present this piece as an authentic or certified work by Ricard Opisso.

References to the artist in this entry describe solely the attribution currently under study and the historical and artistic context behind it.

Any future change to the attribution will be incorporated into this entry as the investigation progresses.

The Taller’s note

Some works have an investigation that forms part of their own history.

This piece arrived at the Taller with several features that warranted a closer look: an «Opisso» signature, two figures linked to one of the most important periods of Catalan art and, above all, a particularly evocative annotation: «Joaquim Mir i l'Isidre Nonell / Evocació».

Precisely because of the significance that authorship by Ricard Opisso would have, we have chosen not to offer the work on the market while its study continues.

The piece will remain off sale until we have sufficient evidence to establish its cataloguing with greater certainty.

This entry will be updated as the attribution study progresses.