Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu in an automobile
Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu in an automobile
A singular painting of Catalan Modernism which represents Ramon Casas, himself, and Pere Romeu, owner of the famous bar “Els Quatre Gats”, driving an automobile, a vehicle belonging to the 20th century, which decorated the main wall of the famous bar. In 1901, this canvas substituted another in which the same two characters were riding on a tandem, with the skyline of Barcelona in the background. Both of these works have become the most emblematic of Catalan Modernism.
The decorative aim of the two paintings, and the humoristic and stylistic touch, approaches them to the poster technique, a genre in which Ramon Casas had acquired a great prestige, by getting close to the art nouveau aesthetics and the art of the great French poster artist Toulouse-Lautrec.
Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu in a Motor Car, Ramon Casas, Barcelona, 1901