Two generations
1901. Oil on canvas.Not on display
Undone by a light that almost blurs the shapes of the objects, and which does not allow the background of the composition to be defined, where some hens are insinuated, pecking at the remains of food on the floor, the work represents a family after-dinner conversation in which an elderly couple, seated on low chairs, rest with their little granddaughter. The grandmother nods, having dropped her knitting needles on the floor, and the grandfather, who remains awake behind the pages of a diary, brings them within an inch of his eyes. The girl is the only one who seems to be aware of the painter´s presence, who distracts her from playing with a fan of sticks that she turns upside down to amuse herself. At her feet, a rattle and other dropped toys emphasise the restless character of the little girl, and behind her a red earthenware jug underlines the refreshment they all seek in the shade of the courtyard. Two generations of the same family shelter from the inclement sun under a bowered porch in a rural courtyard, and this is how Pla, who perhaps represents the generation between the two, depicted them. Here the artist takes advantage of the tenderness of the characters, all of whom appear helpless, to exalt family values as part of a very simple argumentative discourse, in which the most common and everyday affections are dealt with in a habitual way in his work. (G. Navarro, C.: in “Las dos generaciones”, Ternura y Melodrama. Pintura de escenas familiares en tiempos de Sorolla. [Tenderness and Melodrama. Family scene paintings during the time of Sorolla] Conselleria de Cultura i Educació de la Generalitat Valenciana, 2003, p. 212).
