Paintings I love
Jean François Raffaëlli (France, 1850 – 1924)
The abandoned route
1904
Oil on canvas, 155 x 188 cm.
National museum of fine arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Raffaëlli defined the realist artist as one in charge of revealing the various aspects of contemporary society, paying particular attention to its individuals represented without faith in their possibilities of redemption. With the support of Edgar Degas he participated in the Impressionist exhibitions of 1880 and 1881; Arousing the ire of several members of the group for the critical acclaim obtained by their numerous works that did not fit within the aesthetics or the usual themes of the group.
The whole painting conveys a sensation of circular movement, as if the scene were observed through a fish eye. The palette is cold, one of the recurring characteristics of the artist. The impasto of the whites and creams give this work an interesting material thickness that contrasts with the quick and light strokes of the branches and vegetation. The sky has an undeniable pregnancy, the use of blues on the hill gives it the appearance of a reflection as if the firmament continued on the earth. The tower of a church and some houses show the existence of a village, but this is veiled by the immense trees, another element widely used by the artist, which unite the different registers of the painting. This work, acquired by Eduardo Schiaffino directly from the painter’s workshop in 1906, had participated in the Salon the previous year along with other landscapes of rural France.
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