Joaquim Sunyer

JOAQUIN SUNYER DE MIRO (Sitges, Barcelona, 1874 - 1956).
"Naked woman".
Pastel on paper adhered to cardboard.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 91 x 61 cm; 102 x 73 cm (frame).

Considered one of the maximum representatives of the noucentista style, Sunyer was nephew of the also painter Joaquim de Miró i Argenter, with whom he began in the painting. Within his work, his landscapes and female nudes stand out, as well as his portraits, totally distant from traditional painting. His compositions are an example of balance, always looking for the evocative power of images, figures and atmospheres.

After studying at La Lonja School in Barcelona, Sunyer began his career as an illustrator of popular scenes in "La Vanguardia" in 1896. That same year he took part in the Fine Arts Exhibition. Shortly after, he settled in Paris, where he specialized in street scenes and intimate interiors, which he treated in a style influenced by prostimpressionism. In Paris he befriended Picasso and Hugué, and exhibited in the Salons. During his Parisian period he worked with real dedication, evolving towards a post-impressionist language. Between 1905 and 1906 he traveled through Castile, on the initiative of the art dealer Henri Barbazanges, who wanted Spanish themes. He returned to Paris in 1907, and held several exhibitions in the French capital and Liège. He settles in Sitges in 1910, at a time when his style has been losing the post-impressionist influences and approaches the Mediterranean themes and the simplified canon figures of Cézanne. In these years a great change will occur in his painting, becoming a leading figure in the Noucentisme. His new language, based on an essential composition of clear structures and sober and transparent colors, clearly Mediterranean, would create a school within Catalan art. The following year, in 1911, Sunyer organizes a personal exhibition in the Faianç Catalá that placed him, after Nonell's death, at the head of the Catalan painting of the moment. During the following years he travels and exhibits in Europe, but returns to Catalonia at the outbreak of the First World War. Settled in Sitges, he nevertheless took part in the Paris and Barcelona Salons. After fleeing Spain because of the Civil War, he returned to Spain and settled in Barcelona in 1942. In 1949 he was awarded the Legion of Honor, and later special rooms were dedicated to him at the Hispano-American Art Biennials in Barcelona. At the Havana Biennial in 1954, he was awarded the Grand Prize for a lifetime of work. An anthological exhibition was also held in Madrid in 1974, commemorating the centenary of his birth. Joaquín Sunyer is currently represented at the MACBA, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris and the Reina Sofía National Art Center in Madrid.