Lot 200: RICARDO CANALS BARCELONA 1876-1931

CORRIDA DE TOROS (LE COMBAT DE TAURAUX)

80 by 106cm., 31½ by 41¾in.

signed R. Canals l.l.; titled and dated 1899 on an old label on the reverse

oil on canvas

EXHIBITED

Toros, 1982, no. 10

NOTE

Of all Spanish traditions, the bright colours, infectious fever, and heart-stopping drama of the bull-fighting ring provided the ultimate challenge to painters to transpose the raw passion of the spectacle onto canvas. One can almost hear the yells and gasps from the audience in Canals's monumental Corrida de toros as they helplessly watch as one of the matadors jumps to safety to escape the pointed horns of a bull as it dives into the flesh of his fallen horse.

A member of the Colla del Safrà group, Canals travelled with Nonell (lots 170 & 191) to Paris in 1897 where he remained for the next ten years. Settling in the heart of Montmartre, the two artists spent their time in the bohemian cafés and bars. It was here that Canals met the dealer Charles Durand Ruel who encouraged him to paint Spanish subjects, such as the present work, which were very sought after on the French market at the time. Canals subsequently returned to Andalucia on a regular basis for inspiration.

Bullfights were popular events in ancient Rome, but it was in the Iberian Peninsula that these contests were fully developed. The Moors from North Africa who overran Andalusia in AD 711 changed bullfighting significantly from the brutish, formless spectacle practised by the conquered Visigoths to a ritualistic occasion observed in connection with feast days, on which the conquering Moors mounted on highly trained horses, confronted and killed the bulls. In modern bullfighting, six bulls, to be killed by three matadors, are usually required for one afternoon's corrida, and each encounter lasts about 15 minutes. At the appointed time, generally five in the afternoon, the three matadors, each followed by their assistants, the banderilleros and the picadors, march into the ring in the accompaniment of traditional paso doble ('march rhythm') music.

While the matador attempts his escape in the present work, the crowd hurl encouragement or abuse, urging the fight to go on. Another of the matadors tries to tempt the charging bull away as he begins his faena. Also known as the 'dance with death', the matador waves the thick piece of crimson cloth taunting the bull to charge. All the time tension and passion pulse through the crowd in anticipation of the bull's inevitable death.