This picturesque canvas evinces Miquel Villà’s unique style, a synthesis of art from the past with experimentation into new avant-garde movements that led to a technically and formally very personal body of work.

Villà addressed the subject matters of traditional painting with a vigour, vitality and conviction unusual in the Catalan painting of his time. His realistic and passionate approach to nature lent his creations a whole new poetic.

The scene depicted here is highly striking: at first sight, it is the simple representation of a herd of cows grazing peacefully. However, we see them from behind in a vaulted interior space that seems to impregnate the scene with a religious air. Everything is rendered in a sober palette, dominated by ochre, white and greenish tones. Only the figure of the crouching farmer, milking one of the cows in the middle, breaks the rhythm of the composition.

The painter uses drawing to outline his volumetric figures, endowing them with a certain sculptural character. The main focus of this painting is undoubtedly given to the cows, capturing the beholder’s attention.