Lot 103: Pedro Blanes Viale (1879-1926)

Cerro de Arequita signed 'P. Blanes Viale' lower left oil on canvas 25 x 311/4in. (63.5 x 79.5cm.) Painted ca. 1917 PROVENANCE Anon. sale, Castells & Castells, Montevideo, August 13, 1996, lot 36 (illustrated) Private collection, Montevideo NOTES Pedro Blanes Viale was without doubt Uruguay's most important painter in the first three decades of the 20th Century. His work, which was initially quite traditional, based in his studies in Madrid at the Academia de San Fernando, began to take the colorist path for which he is most recognized in 1906-1907 during one of his frequent residences in Palma de Mallorca. Though born in Uruguay, his work is inextricably linked to Spain, his studies there, and his friendships with the Spanish painters Joaqu¡n Mir and Santiago Rusiqol. Likewise, the atmospheric Mediterranean color and light of the Balearic islands are present throughout his work.