Following Nonell's models

Spanish school of the 19th century. Following models of ISIDRE NONELL I MONTURIOL (Barcelona, 1873 - 1911).
"Portrait of a woman", 1894.
Charcoal on paper.
Apocryphal signature and dated in the lower left area.
Measurements: 51 x 40 cm.

The artist, who follows models of Isidre Nonell, captures in this work an image of great naturalism and expressiveness, worked with a technique of great mastery, which takes full advantage of the expressive possibilities of charcoal. Thus, around the woman's head the line becomes dense and confused, creating a vibrant shadow of great naturalism. On the face, on the other hand, the touch is precise and perfectly controlled, and models the features through the play of light and shadow.
A painter and draftsman, Nonell trained with Josep Mirabent, Luis Graner and at the Martínez Altés Academy. In 1892 he was presented in the Sala Parés, and the following year, within the group Academia Libre, he took part in a group exhibition headed by Rusiñol. In 1894 he participated in the Second Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona, and published drawings in "La Vanguardia". During these years he was a student at the La Lonja School in Barcelona, and between 1895 and 1896 he coincided with Joaquín Mir, Gosé, Sunyer and Torres-García. In 1895 he took part for the first time in the National Exhibition of Madrid, an exhibition in which he participated several times until 1910. In 1896 he exhibited with the Colla del Safrà at the Third Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona, where he was awarded an honorary mention. In the summer of the same year he moved to Boí (Lleida) together with Ricard Canals and Julio Vallmitjana, where he made numerous drawings on cretinism, then endemic in the area due to inbreeding practices. In autumn, Nonell exhibited these works in the salon of "La Vanguardia", and at the beginning of the following year he published his drawings in "Barcelona Cómica". Shortly after, he showed an oil painting also by Boí at the XIV Exhibition of the Sala Parés. That same year he went to Paris, again with Canals. In April 1897 he took part in the Salon du Champ de Mars in the French capital, and towards the end of the year he took part in the XV Exhibition of Impressionist and Symbolist Painters, also in Paris. At the beginning of 1898 he organized a joint exhibition with Canals at Le Barc de Boutteville. He returns months later and shows his sketches of Paris at Els Quatre Gats, but soon returns to the French capital. There, "La Vie Moderne" had published several of his works, and he exhibits individually in the outstanding gallery of Ambroise Vollard (1899). He returned to Barcelona, exhibiting regularly between 1902 and 1903 at the Sala Parés and the Ateneo in Barcelona, while sending works to the Parisian salons. He also published drawings in "Papitu", "L'Esquella de la Torratxa", "La Campana de Gràcia", "Quatre Gats", etc. Nonell is currently represented in the Reina Sofia Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, the MAPFRE Foundation and the Museum of Empordà, among others.