'Ramón Casas and Pere Romeu in a car', by Ramón Casas (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya)
It is not likely that Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu they went very far. The car belongs to the first generation that **was manufactured in Europe, around 1900. **
The lateral starting crank is distinguished, the flashlight as a beacon, the horn in the form of a trumpet. The trunk is a wicker basket. The jack russell who, standing, observes the road, contradicts the pilot's vertigo. The engines They did not exceed 20 km/h.
'Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu in tandem', Ramón Casas
Travel is movement. houses reflected it in the dissolution of the spokes, in the wind that shakes the branches. He smokes a pipe while his hand directs the lever that preceded the steering wheel.
Romeu, the co-pilot, remains attentive. The two motorists were together with Utrillo and Rusiñol, the promoters of Els Quatre Gats, the place where the event took place Catalan modernism. There this work replaced another in which the partners appeared in a tandem. Progress imposed its advance.
The car embodied the machine. The industry was heading towards a fast-paced future that spoke of freedom exchange. Contrary to the comic style of Casas, that anticipates a multitude of silent film scenes, the futurists used the language of the avant-garde to exalt a new religion: **machinism. **
That was in the 20th century. But the movement, the vehicle, the march, found an artistic expression in each era. In the mid-19th century, William Turner depicted a train passing over a bridge in the rain. Speed was to him a straight line approaching from the horizon. ** In his work remains the iron, the storm and the steam. **
'Rain, steam and speed', William Turner
The Century of the lights , inclined to playful innovations, invented the hot air balloon. The Italian Vincenzo Lunardi he was the first to raise one in England. The event took place in 1784, from a London artillery range, before the gaze of a crowd among which was the prince of wales.
He was accompanied by a dog, a cat and a pigeon. Rigaud represented him alongside his partner George Biggin and actress Leticia Anne Sage. Due to weight restrictions, they did not accompany him on the journey.
'Favorite Air Travelers', John Francis Rigaud
Before it was the horse, the carriage, the chariot or the post car. The trip was uncertain, insecure, subject to attacks by bandits, by the militiamen of the wars that devastated the continent. **The movement was associated with necessity, with trade. **
Rembrandt reflected that uncertainty in a rider traversing a mountainous landscape. Tense on his mount, he seems to be waiting for battle. The unexpected can arise at a bend in the road.
This work is part of an engraving in which Dürer, a century earlier, dealt with the same subject from a Renaissance perspective. The baroque concern becomes a game of symbols.
The knight advances among demons, followed by a faithful dog. He remains oblivious to the monstrous. He ignores the danger and keeps going. The breastplate and lance of virtue protect him. **Death shows him an hourglass. Time is running out. **
'The Polish Horseman', Rembrandt
Dürer tells us that the journey is life. Today we know that the promise of progress that inspired the machine was fragile. Freedom can be seen suspended by a microscopic organism. The fast-paced career of Ramón Casas requires a pause.
Among all these works, perhaps we are closer to Rembrandt's horseman. The traveler who, with an alert look, pulls the reins in an unknown environment. He doesn't stop walking. ** The expression of his path in the 21st century is yet to come. **
Ramón Casas and Pere Romeu in a car It is exhibited in the National Art Museum of Catalonia.
'Ramón Casas and Pere Romeu in a car', by Ramón Casas (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya)