#20030 Manuel Moral

The artwork presents a landscape rendered in a highly stylized and simplified manner. A panoramic view unfolds, dominated by undulating terrain divided into distinct horizontal bands of color – ochre, beige, pale green, and grey – creating a sense of layered depth despite the lack of traditional perspective. The sky is a uniform blue, devoid of clouds or atmospheric detail.
Here we see small, white buildings nestled within the landscape, seemingly integrated with the topography rather than standing apart from it. These structures appear almost like geological formations themselves, further emphasizing the painting’s flattened and abstracted quality. A group of figures, diminutive in scale, are depicted laboring in a field; they pull a plow drawn by oxen, their presence suggesting agricultural activity and human interaction with the land.
The vegetation is represented through repetitive patterns of small, stylized trees and shrubs, forming dense rows that reinforce the horizontal divisions of the landscape. The artist’s meticulous application of texture – evident in the granular quality of the paint – adds a tactile dimension to the scene. This technique contributes to an overall impression of deliberate construction rather than naturalistic observation.
Subtly, the painting conveys a sense of order and control over nature. The rigid horizontal lines and repetitive patterns suggest a desire for categorization and simplification. While depicting rural life, the work avoids sentimentality or romanticization; instead, it presents a detached, almost clinical view of the landscape and its inhabitants. The small size of the human figures in relation to the vastness of the terrain might imply themes of insignificance or the enduring power of nature. The overall effect is one of quiet contemplation, inviting reflection on humanity’s relationship with the environment through a lens of stylized abstraction.