“Get out of here before you make me sick. In Valencia I had the best time of my life. Vamos! Valencia. Don’t talk to me of Valencia.” — the woman of Pablo said.
“But what did you do?” Maria asked.
“All things, ” the woman said. “We went to the beach and lay in the water and boats with sails were hauled up out of the sea by oxen. The oxen driven to the water until they must swim; then harnessed to the boats, and, when they found their feet, staggering up the sand. Ten yokes of oxen dragging a boat with sails out of the sea in the morning with the line of the small waves breaking on the beach. That is Valencia.”
Ernest Hemingway. “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
That oil painting on canvas was inspired by a vivid episode described by Ernest Hemingway. It depicts oxen pulling a boat out of the sea. These animals, emerging as if from the sea foam and water, appear as semi-mythical creatures. The fishermen, who are guiding the oxen, are rendered with quick, expressive brushstrokes. The painting does more than just depict a real event; it imparts a mythical dimension to the oxen. Another source of inspiration for the artist was the work of the famous Valencian painter Joaquín Sorolla.
Oil on canvas, 65×80 cm
