The motif of the carnival was present in the work of José Gutiérrez Solana since his first exhibition in 1908. However, in the 1930s and ‘40s the subject became his most revisited. Painted while he was exiled in Paris, this canvas belonging to the Fundación MAPFRE Collection is closely related to two drawings from 1933 and to an etching of the same year, also in the collection.

The painting is inspired by the impoverished and dreary carnivals of Madrid’s suburbs. The muddy grounds, thick skies, and gloomy landscapes of the outskirts indicate the end of the celebration and the disintegration of appearances. These are the only works by the artist in which he used a linear perspective to portray empty paths that lead nowhere.

An element of unrest and desolation exists within this type of painting, which was defined by the scholar Eduardo Westerdahl as “a manifestation of the modern world’s existential angst.”