Eliseo Meifrén

ELISEO MEIFRÈN ROIG (Barcelona, 1857 - 1940).
"Coastal view".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 35 x 45 cm; 47 x 57 cm (frame).

The one that we now present is a work of Meifrén already clearly impressionist, with a purely chromatic and luminous treatment of the landscape, that leaves aside the meticulous description of the natural model to capture an impression of nature, a purely visual and totally plastic image, in which the loose, impastoed and precise brushstroke configures forms, spaces and volumes based on juxtaposing colors. The forms are blurred and become pure expressive stain; the light, worked and thought, acquires a renewed prominence, and nature takes on a new atmospheric dimension, which goes beyond the pure reproduction of reality.

A disciple of Antonio Caba at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, after finishing his studies he spent some time in Paris, where he coincided with the public beginning of impressionism and became acquainted with "plen air" painting. He returned to Barcelona in 1879 and, that same year, he won the gold medal at the Regional Exhibition of Valencia. The following year he made his individual debut at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, where he continued to exhibit regularly from then on. He was part of the modernist group, and frequented Els Quatre Gats. Although he also dedicated himself to portraiture, Meifrèn was eminently a landscape and marine painter. He was one of the discoverers of the pictorial possibilities of Cadaqués, and he also used to paint Mallorcan landscapes (he was director of the School of Fine Arts in Palma). He made several trips in search of new landscapes, especially to France but also to the Canary Islands, Belgium, Italy and the United States. He held exhibitions in Barcelona, Madrid (1881), Chicago (1893), Paris (1899), Brussels (1910), Santiago de Chile (1910), Buenos Aires (1910), Amsterdam (1912) and San Francisco (1915), among many other cities around the world. His style began with the detailed realism that dominated the Catalan school at the end of the 19th century, and gradually evolved towards impressionism, a language that would not be fully evident in his work until his last years. Throughout his career he won a multitude of awards, including the first medals at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid (1906) and Barcelona (1896), the Nonell prize in Barcelona (1935), the bronze medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris (1888) and the grand prizes at the International Exhibitions of Buenos Aires (1910) and San Diego (1916). In 1952, the Barcelona City Council dedicated a retrospective exhibition to him, held at the Palacio de la Virreina. He is represented in the Museo del Prado, the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña, the MACBA in Barcelona and the Thyssen-Bornemisza, among many others.