Private Collection
Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 2004

Francesc Miralles, Grandes Pintores de la Pintura Catalana, Barcelona, 2008, p. 55, illustrated

Original canvas. There are horizontal stretcher marks near the upper and lower edges, and faint craquelure (visible in the catalogue illustration). Ultraviolet light reveals clustered spots of retouching, notably throughout the sky (including along the stretcher mark), in the pale green in the centre, and in the white-grey pigments in the lower left corner. Some of the retouching has discoloured and is visible to the naked eye, and the picture would be transformed with a surface clean and restoration to the discoloured retouchings. Held in a decorative Spanish-style gold-painted frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted in 1903, Mir's chromatic interpretation of Mallorca's Tramontana mountains captures the sun's early morning rays illuminat꧟ing the foregound trees and glinting on the pink stone of the rocky peaks that run the le𒅌ngth of the island's north-eastern shore.

Mir had settled in Mallorca in 1900, and during 𒀰the four years that he spent there became obsessed with the beauty of the dramatic vistas and distinctive limestone rock formations that characterise the north of the island. Drawn to Serra de Tramontana's most inacessible and least frequented landscapes, Mir explored the drama of the peaks and canyons between Puerto de Soller and Pollença (fig. 1), in particular the dramatic river bed of the Torrent de Pareis. The ensuing canvases that he completed of this isolated region reflect an expressive abandon that abstracts the beauty of the landscape, capturing the wild terrain through an explosive range of brilliant colour harmonies.

The artist's passion for colour had dominated his work from the time of his association with La Colla del Safrà, the group of young artists that painted in the countryside on the outskirts of Barcelona♋ in the late 1890s. Fellow Safrà artists included Ricardo Canals and Isidro Nonell, their works characterised by a distinctive use of yellow in their palettes, and for Mir at least, the substitution of black for blue, carmine and emerald.

In Mallorca Mir was joined by fellow Catalan Santiago Rusiñol, and met the Belgian painter Willem Degouve de Nuncques, both of whom shared Mir's fascination with the Tramontana range and the atmospheric light conditions to be found there. At the first exhibition of Mir's work held at the Sala Parés in Barcelona in 1901 his Majorcan landscapes attracted considerable attention. Buoyed up by critical acclaim Mir became further determined in his efforts to express the particular qualities of the Serra de Tramontana, to the extent that by the end of 1903 he was living in the mountains in virtual isolation. There, in pursuit of ever more dramatic landscapes, he climཧbed to precipitous heights in search of novel perspectives, on one occasion suffering a fall that left him unconscious for several hours. Indeed, so intense became his labours in Mallorca that by 1904 he began to suffer psychologically, and was interned for a period at an asylum in Reus.