OIL ON CANVAS, “THE REAPER”, IGNACIO DÍAZ OLANO, 1890.

Oil on canvas, “The Reaper”, Ignacio Díaz Olano, 1890. Signed and dated in the lower right corner. Ignacio Salvador Díaz Ruiz de Olano (Vitoria, 1860-1937), painter and teacher of painters, better known as Ignacio Díaz, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vitoria as a disciple of Emilio Soubrier Martínez, and at the Llotja in Barcelona (1877-1880), where he met his teacher Gustavo Bacaristas. After completing his apprenticeship, he returned to his hometown, where he collaborated on the weekly “El Danzarín” as a draughtsman, under the pseudonym “Galop”. Then, in 1890, he moved to Paris, where he remained for four years studying anatomical drawing, and did stage design work for the Opera House (some people argue that it is not entirely certain that he was in Paris, however). On his return to Spain, he participated in the Artistic and Industrial Exhibition of Vitoria with several works in 1884, the year in which he also opened his own studio in this city, where he carried out an outstanding educational work until its closure in 1894 to go to Barcelona. In this same year he would travel to Rome, where he lived for two years. From 1912-1913 he would also work as a drawing teacher at the General and Technical Institute, a job he carried out until he reached the statutory retirement age in 1932. Between 1890 and 1925 Díaz participated in multiple editions of the National Fine Arts Exhibitions, winning a bronze medal in 1895 and silver in 1899 and 1901. His works are preserved in the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Fine Arts Museums of Vitoria and Asturias, the Provincial Museum of Álava, the City Council and the School of Arts and Crafts of Vitoria, private collections, etc. Many experts have pointed out that the art of Ignacio Díaz was greatly influenced by the fact that the painter spent a long time surrounded by his countrymen and neighbours. This led to the majority of his production consisting of oil paintings of popular and traditional subjects, portraits, landscapes and flowers, and still lifes. The present oil painting is a clear example: it shows a reaper, in a half-worked wheat field and with a small sheaf in his hand, looking towards a point outside the painting. Likewise, his exceptional observational skills and his solid training in drawing can also be appreciated. In this work, however, progress can already be seen in presenting light in his work, fully integrated into his compositions. Hand in hand with light, and little by little, colour penetrated, which is also presented in this painting as totally dominated. His search for immediacy will bring the luminous spot and the chromatic flash and, over time, he came closer to naturalistic impressionism without fully entering into this style by maintaining his personality and formal differences.

· Size: 108 x 72 cm; 110 x 74 cm (marco)