HIGINIO BLAT

(1893 / 1974)

HIGINIO BLAT Valencia (1893) / Pamplona (1974) "Surroundings of Javea", 1917

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated in the lower right corner. Reference bibliography: Pilato Iranzo, A., "The Valencian painter Higinio Blat", Ars Longa: art notebooks, no. 7-8, 1996-1997, pp. 263-277. Higinio Blat belongs to the group of young Valencian artists who, at the beginning of the 20th century, revitalized the local scene with the support of some established masters such as Joaquin Sorolla (1863-1923). Together they created the Valencian Artistic Youth association, whose first exhibition took place at the University of Valencia in the summer of 1916. In 1917, like Sorolla, he settled in the town of Javea, as did the painter Leopoldo Garcia Ramon. Attracted by the beauty of this place, he painted several works there, which he presented at the various exhibitions in which he participated between 1917 and 1922. The works from this period received very good reviews, with his landscapes being described as very beautiful and flattering, with an expressive, luminous, and attractive color palette; making him one of the most highly regarded painters of Modernism in Valencia. In October, he presented two landscapes of Javea at the National Fine Arts Exhibition in Madrid, titled: Javea (79 x 64 cm, No. 38) and Lluca (64 x 79 cm, No. 39). The dimensions of the latter canvas coincide with those of this work, which could be representing the agricultural lands of this area located between Javea and Benitachell. Dimensions: 64 x 79 cm