Boats on the beach

Modest Urgell was a realist painter and draughtsman who was active in the late 19th century and the early 20th, also known as a comic graphic artist. He studied at Barcelona’s Escola de Belles Arts de Llotja, and was taught by Martí Alsina. During his student years he met many other people who would become famous artists, such as the Vayreda brothers and the Masriera brothers. Modest Urgell was awarded a grant to study in Paris, a city he lived in during several periods in his life, and where he met Courbet, a crucial figure in French realism. At first, Urgell was best known as a draughtsman, initially working as a cartoonist and a portraitist. In the field of painting, Urgell mainly produced landscapes and seascapes. In this work, the artist presents a perfectly everyday image of boats pulled up onto the beaches at the end of the day’s fishing.