Ramon Casas' "The Load": Social Realism in Barcelona, 1902

"The Load" (Barcelona, 1902) by Ramon Casas

Classification:

Title: The Load or Barcelona, 1902

Author: Ramon Casas (1866-1932)

Year: Dated 1903 (Exhibited at the Salon du Champ de Mars in 1903). Some critics believe it was painted in 1899 and was turned down at the Universal Exhibition of Paris of 1900.

Style: Social Realism / Modernism

Museum: Museum of Garrotxa, Olot

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 2.98 x 4.70 meters

Subject Matter: Brutal Repression

The painting depicts the brutal repression by the Civil Guard of a workers' demonstration demanding better working conditions. It is a modern take on history painting, utilizing a large format (2.98 x 4.70 meters).

Technical and Artistic Elements

The technique is oil on canvas, with color taking precedence over drawing. The two main characters, a policeman on horseback and a fallen striker, are highlighted through careful detail.

Casas employs a loose, impressionistic brushstroke, which enhances the representation of the fleeing workers and the atmospheric elements in the background (atmospheric perspective).

Composition: Unbalanced

The scene is confined at the bottom by factories and a church shrouded in smoke and fog, elements that amplify the painting's expressive power.

A large empty space, created by the police charge, dominates the composition. Given the painting's large format, this void extends into the viewer's space, effectively drawing them into the scene.

The main action is concentrated on one side, in the foreground, where a foreshortened view shows a striker who has fallen to the ground about to be beaten by a mounted policeman.

The Work and the Author

Casas's artistic development was influenced by:

• Barcelona: Academic training (Jaume Vincens)
• Paris: Academic training (Carolus-Duran) and Impressionistic atmosphere.

The painting faced censorship from art critics who deemed it a mere outline, unworthy of exhibition.

It is considered a pivotal work in the establishment of a modern school of painting in Barcelona in the late nineteenth century.

The term "modernism" was first used in this same year.

In 1887, Casas returned to Paris, and from 1890 onward, he exhibited at the Camp of Mars instead of the official Salon in Paris.

1891: He painted "Plein-air", one of the most famous paintings of Catalan Modernism.

He participated in group exhibitions in Barcelona (1890, 1891, and 1893) alongside painters and sculptors like Rusiñol and Clarasó.

His works are characterized by a palette of soft colors and a technique of long, delicate brushstrokes.

Traditional critics were hostile, but Raimon Casellas of L'Avenç recognized Casas as a renovator of painting, calling him modernist.

Casas's work shows clear connections to the Impressionist world, but he remained more conservative in his pictorial language.

Rethinking Realism

Casas aimed to create a program of social realism with three key paintings:

• Garrote Vil (1894)
• Departure of the Procession of Corpus (1899)
• The Load (1899-1903)

This approach aligns with the intention of using the pictorial language of his time to depict contemporary events, a trend initiated 70 years earlier by Géricault and Delacroix.

The Work and the Historical Context

The restoration of the monarchy under Alfonso XII (1874) represented a setback for the labor movement, which faced repression to promote social stability and economic development.

In 1881, the Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region was abolished.

Three trends emerged within the Catalan labor movement at the end of the nineteenth century:

• Syndicalism, or revolutionary or political association, reflecting the Catalan proletariat's tradition of creating unions for better working conditions.
• Socialism, which had poor implementation (the founding congress of the UGT was held in Barcelona in 1888, but moved to Madrid in 1899).
• Anarchism, which became the most influential ideology in the final years of the nineteenth century, characterized by direct action and terrorist attacks in Barcelona (notably the bombing at the Lyceum in 1893).

As a result of anarchist attacks, authorities initiated indiscriminate repression of the labor movement, making it difficult to establish specific deals related to the events depicted in Ramon Casas's painting.