Revetlla

Revetlla (Festival Night), at the Círculo del Liceo, depicts a traditional Catalan festival night — the revetlla, a popular celebration involving bonfires, dancing, and public gathering. Painted in 1902, this work belongs to Casas's parallel engagement with popular Catalan cultural subjects alongside his society portraiture. Where his portraits addressed the urban elite of Barcelona's modernista culture, works like Revetlla documented the popular traditions that defined Catalan identity for a broader social range. The painting's presence at the Círculo del Liceo — an elite institution — reflects the complexity of Catalanism as a cross-class cultural project.

Casas renders the festive nocturnal scene with the confident handling of a painter comfortable with both daylight and artificial or firelit atmospheres. His Parisian training in capturing atmospheric effects informs the treatment of the outdoor night setting, the warm tones of the festival light contrasting with the cooler darkness beyond the gathering's perimeter.