This superb oil on canvas is a good example of the type of painting produced by Joaquim Mir after settling in Vilanova i la Geltrú. Since his marriage in 1921 to Maria Estalella, this peripatetic artist found in Vilanova the perfect place to live, although this did not prevent him from travelling regularly to other places in search of landscapes for his paintings. The first of his many “painterly campaigns” took place precisely, in 1924, in Alforja, a small town in Tarragona, where another stay in 1927 has also been documented.

Throughout the 1930s, Joaquim Mir earned considerable fame both in Spain and internationally. In 1929 he obtained the First Medal at the Barcelona International Exposition and in 1932 and 1934 he took part at the Venice Biennale. He was keenly aware of his critical fortune and he once claimed, full of gratitude, that “he had been born with good luck.”

In those years, after his fertile and colourful phase in Mallorca, realism regained a major role in his compositions, based on spontaneous brushwork in which the use of colour continued to be critical. His style was at times loose and also highly varied, sometimes using drawing and other times blotches of colour.

The work at hand beautifully reflects a rural environment and conveys the sense of peace the painter must have felt while depicting it. In short, this work by Mir explains itself through the simple pleasure of enjoying the painting itself without any need for words.