La encina y la vaca (The Holm Oak and the Cow)

La encina y la vaca (The Holm Oak and the Cow) of 1915 demonstrates Mir's integration of rural animals into his chromatic landscape vision. The holm oak — Quercus ilex — is the emblematic tree of the Mediterranean scrubland, its dark evergreen canopy providing shade in the Catalan and Valencian countryside. By combining it with a grazing cow, Mir creates a pastoral scene that is simultaneously a celebration of regional landscape and a demonstration of his mature chromatic method. By 1915 Mir had long since established his reputation as the most distinctive colorist among Spanish painters of his generation. The canvas is now in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, which holds important examples of early twentieth-century Spanish painting. The composition likely features Mir's characteristic dense impasto and vibrant color, with the tree's dark canopy providing a contrast to the sunlit ground.

The holm oak's dense evergreen canopy offers Mir a chromatic foil for the warm, sunlit landscape surrounding it. The cow is integrated into the color system rather than treated as a purely documentary element. Paint application continues Mir's mosaic-like impasto technique from his Tarragona period.