With “Fox Hunt”, Paolo Sala presents a broad and articulated scene set in a wooded landscape crossed by horsemen and packs of hounds. The large-format work develops along a horizontal axis that guides the eye through the path, while the trees filter a clear and diffused light. Furthermore, the boundary wall and the entrance in the background introduce an architectural element that structures the depth.
The artist, a Milanese painter active between the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, was known above all as an urban view painter and interpreter of city life. However, in this painting his interest in plein-air narrative and in the naturalistic rendering of the landscape emerges. The brushwork, in fact, is loose yet controlled, while the palette favours green and golden tones that suggest a precise seasonal atmosphere.
The figures of the horsemen, although integrated into the surrounding landscape, retain an accurate definition. Consequently, the scene does not merely describe a hunting episode, but also conveys an image of bourgeois society, in which hunting was practised as a collective ritual. At the same time, the dogs in motion introduce a dynamic rhythm that animates the entire composition.
Therefore, “Fox Hunt” demonstrates Paolo Sala’s ability to combine landscape observation and social narrative, placing the work within the Lombard pictorial climate between naturalism and a sensitivity to light.
Description: Oil on canvas, signed lower right P Sala di Milano, H 120×200 cm.
Hammer Price: € 24.600,00
Auction 6 – September 25th 2015 – Furniture – Paintings – Sculptures – Works of Art
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