Art and journeys

"In that group of woodcutter ladies, only one showed eagerness to please me. It was a homely and fairly ugly slender lass, who disappeared silently to return loaded with bushes and flowers which offered me without pronouncing a word. She rarely spoke [...]. Her friends called her «Bland». Poor thing!" (Jaume Morera)

In search of light and scenes concordant with his artistic interests, Jaume Morera became interested in the winter at Sierra de Guadarrama. The discovery of the snowy landscapes allowed him to incorporate a romantic rooted drama to his paintings, which became quite a distinguishing feature.

In 1932 Viladrich made a trip to Morocco. The result was a series of 30 paintings of Sephardic themes and crafts, marked by the artist's taste for realism and meticulous detail, combined with a symbolist and primitive air at the same time.

"La Rambla is wonderful. It is one of the few streets of Barcelona where I feel entirely fine." (Josep Pla)

This group portrait shows some of the participants of an exhibition held at Barcelona's Sala Parés in 1910. Among them Santiago Rusiñol, the fourth figure from the left.

Erected in the 16th century, one century later the Villa was acquired by Orazio Falconieri, who commissioned its remodelling to Antonio da Sangallo and Borromini. The gardens date of the 18th century, and in 1900 Gili i Roig represented them during his stay in Rome, which he combined with several visits to Frascati.

"... And tourists take pictures of themselves where you and I used to have breakfast; those are the good things of being eternal ..." (Manel)

"I finally reached the capital of the world! I see all my youthful dreams coming true ... Only in Rome one can understand Rome!" (Goethe)

"[...] I carried out trips to all the cities of Italy. [...] Touring museums and galleries, I visited excavations, monuments, and libraries trying to comprehend and love everything without letting anyone or anything drag me down." (Baldomer Gili i Roig)

This artwork —an example of Gili i Roig's symbolist stage— won Joan Puig Llusà's decorative panels contest in 1905. Years later, the track of the painting was lost until it was found at Palau Novella and the Buddhist community who currently lives there donated it to the museum.

Gosé's works are graphic reports of Paris during the Belle Époque, featuring the bourgeoisie's friendly scenes but also the most decadent sights of that universe, personified in young girls who visited the most luxurious cafes and hotels in their search for wealthy dandies.

"Paris is a city of amusements and pleasures, where four-fifths of its inhabitants die on spleen." (Nicolas Chamfort)

"The trend of Palafrugell natives to the sea is very old, permanent, steady. Calella, Llafranc, Tamariu, Aigua-Xellida, Aiguablava and Fornells are not mere geographical locations [...] they are forms of our spirit, pieces of our intimate personality." (Josep Pla)

Albert Vives began painting in the 50s, fighting traditional art and initiating a synthesis of forms that led him to Informalism. Afterwards he returned to figurative art through the landscape, a genre he would not abandon until his late days.

In the late 50s Ton Sirera began a work based on aerial photography and macro-photography. These images became milestones in the Catalan Informalism, where Sirera entered almost paradoxically as photography used to be a "realistic" means of representation.

" Canyeret is a neighbourhood about to disappear [...] at the Seu Vella hill [...]. Formerly it was a farming neighbourhood, emerged after the systematic destruction of the city by Philip V of Spain. Humble huts and houses were made [...] with reeds and mud, so it was called Canyeret ... " (Josep Vallverdú)

Josep Benseny was a key player in the late 40s art renovation in Lleida. As a result of a complete break with the past and in the absence of the avant-garde leaders, his work and his figure became a natural reference in the completely deserted local art scene.

The Ereta Square took its shape in the 13th century, at the Ereta of Santa Cristina. In the 14th century the religious name disappeared, and in the 18th century the Marquis of Blondel remodelled it, adding the fountain. After the Spanish Civil War the place was renovated and currently is a local cultural asset.

"My Lleida is not yours. Moreover, now that I see it from the distance, it reveals not as hard and way clearer." (Màrius Torres)