Antonio Fabrés

ANTONIO FABRÉS (Barcelona, 1854 -Rome, 1936).
Study of figures.
Pencil on paper.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 29 x 41 cm; 63 x 69 cm (frame).

Antonio Fabrés was a watercolorist, painter and sculptor orientalist, very influenced by Mariano Fortuny. In 1867 he obtained a medal and entered the Llotja School of Barcelona where he studied sculpture. In 1875 he received a prize for which he was granted a scholarship in Rome, where he soon stopped sculpting and consolidated his mastery almost exclusively in painting. Fabrés joined Mariano Fortuny with a group that became known for its intense realism. His popularity grew with the bourgeoisie's taste for exotic images with medieval oriental themes. Fabrés returned to Barcelona in 1886 and in 1894 he left for Paris. The popularity he had gained during his decade in Italy helped him open a large studio where he could create complex scenes for the upper classes. His international prestige increased, thanks to the support of his art dealer Adolphe Goupil and the numerous prizes he won. In 1902 the Academy of San Carlos, in the Mexican capital, decided to renew his classical techniques with those of realism that were then so popular in Europe. Antonio Fabrés was called to head the painting department of this important institution, replacing Santiago Rebull. Although some of his students developed what was later known as the Post-Revolutionary Movement in Mexican art, the Academy had difficulty adapting to his harsh style and personality. Mexican President Porfirio Díaz appointed him Inspector General of Fine Arts in Mexico, a position he held until 1908. One of his last works in Mexico was the decoration of a hallway in Porfirio Diaz's house, where he mainly concentrated on the art nouveau style. Due to problems with the director of the Academy, because of his fame and personality, Fabrés decided to return to Europe in 1907, leaving a wide range of diverse opinions in his students; however, he also bequeathed them a masterful knowledge of drawing, an excellent ability to solve complex pictorial compositions, and a fondness for the exotic, weapons that were decisive for the birth of the Mexican School and muralism. Fabrés was recognized everywhere he traveled. He was acclaimed in Barcelona, London, Paris, Vienna and Lyon. At the end of his life he was unfortunately treated when in 1926 he decided to donate a large number of his works to the Municipal Museum of Fine Arts in Barcelona. In exchange for this generous donation he asked the Museum to name a corridor after him, but the museum never built that corridor and although he protested several times, they never fulfilled their promise. Many paintings by Antonio Fabrés are preserved in the old town hall of the Corts in Barcelona. There are also drawings by him in the art collections of the National Art Museum of Catalonia.