The work of this artist from the region of Valencia, strongly influenced by his friend and master Mariano Fortuny (1838-1874), is an interesting example of the Spanish Realism of his time.

The journey Agrasot made to Rome in the 1860s was critical for the conceptualisation of his vernacular, geared towards a genre style and a painterly naturalism that acknowledges the influence of painters from the period including José Casado del Alisal (1832-1886), Eduardo Rosales (1836-1873) and the aforementioned Fortuny.

Besides his abundant production of genres scenes, Agrasot also painted history scenes, landscapes and portraits, showing great skill in capturing the likeness of the sitter with truthfulness and simplicity.

This oil on canvas depicts a picturesque genre scene with a typical Valencian air, in which the preciousness in the depiction of the peasant man’s clothing is patent, heightening its colouring, exoticism and attractiveness for spectators removed from the rural world in Valencia. In this case the setting is remote and nobody seems to be listening to this solitary character as he strums his guitar.

By contrasting light and warm colours, the artist outlines the contour of the legs, the folds and the tassels of the blanket on the ground in masterly fashion. He then uses more easy-going free-flowing brushwork for the earthy depiction of the wall and the barely sketched landscape on the left.