The Marne
by MEIFRÉN Y ROIG, Eliseo, Oil on canvas, 60 x 80 cm
In Spain, it was Catalan art that wholeheartedly adopted Impressionism - even if the Catalan preference for greys, violets, ochres and muted greens recalls Whistler rather than Monet or Renoir. Eliseo Meifr�n y Roig was the leading figure here. Open to new techniques and new ways of seeing, he painted in a relaxed, limpid manner, and his pictures have a strongly Impressionist flavour. He liked painting water, the sea and rivers, beaches and fishing ports, seen in various kinds of light. The present painting recalls Monet, not least through its view of the opposite bank and a line of poplar trees.