Joan Barbarà Spain, 1927-2013

In this luminous View of the Costa Brava, Joan Barbarà captures with delicacy and sensitivity the essence of a Mediterranean landscape: the sea, the built coastline, the vegetation, and the suspended atmosphere of a serene day. The scene places us in an elevated position, from which we can contemplate the vastness of the marine horizon and the harmonious coexistence of nature and architecture.

The painting unfolds across several visual planes: in the foreground, a vibrant mass of greens and yellows; in the middle ground, the pink and ochre rooftops of Mediterranean buildings adapting to the terrain; and in the distance, the serene blue-violet sea, traversed by a single white sail that heightens the sense of calm and lightness.

The sky, rendered with broad and vaporous brushstrokes, frames the scene in shades of mauve and sky blue, evoking either the end of the day or the first light of morning. Pine branches entering the composition from the upper edge add both depth and a sense of place: we are in the heart of the Costa Brava, recognizable for its rugged relief and native vegetation.

Unlike his more structured or materially textured works, here Barbarà chooses a loose, lyrical, and painterly approach, emphasizing atmosphere over description. The composition breathes, flows, and conveys a contemplative vision of the landscape.

The re-stretching carried out by Virgili Barbarà in 2025 restores with precision the work’s original luminosity and chromatic nuances, allowing it to recover its expressive strength without altering the artist’s personal gesture.