Out of Doors

Ram�n Casas was deeply influenced by a lengthy stay in Paris where he went to the studio of Carolus-Duran, whose views alternated between academic orthodoxy and Impressionism. In the case of Casas, Impressionism soon gained the upper hand over the methods of his teacher. Even so, Out of Doors, painted on Montmartre during his Paris years, uses tonalities based on black and it is squarely in the main Spanish tradition. The freedom that reveals especially in the brushwork of the sketchy background, and the spatial flatness with which Casas sidesteps academic perspective, clearly indicate his debt to Impressionism.