The Palace in Bria

Mediums: watercolour, paper.
Location: The Provincial Museum of Fine Arts (La Plata, Argentina).

A large number of small objects scattered over the entire surface of the canvas, characteristic of the works of the 1920s, are replaced with strict geometric shapes in the work of Xul Solar. The Palace in Bria is a cluster of rectangular structures and arches, shining with bright colours against the setting disc of the sun and the first stars emerging in the sky. This seemingly peaceful landscape acquires alarming notes when the viewer notices a small hill with a cross and a skull in the foreground, which makes it appear that the rectangles look like tombstones, and the whole picture is an image of a cemetery. The small figures of the soldiers, who are also present in the picture, look lost and lonely against the backdrop of this strange desert landscape.