Llorenç Cerdà i Bisbal

LLORENÇ CERDÀ I BISBAL (Pollença, 1862 - Palma, 1955).
"Mallorcan slingers".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Attached documents.
Measurements: 60 x 49 cm; 77 x 67 cm (frame).

Llorenç Cerdà i Bisbal was formed initially in the Academy of Fine Arts of Palma, between 1879 and 1981, and later in the Special School of Painting. Later he would be granted scholarships to complete his apprenticeship in Madrid, between 1883-84, and in Rome, between 1885-86, where he would share a classroom with, among others, Sorolla, Mariano Benlliure, Enric Simonet and others. His painting would be greatly influenced by Antoni Ribas, Joan Mestre, Ricardo Anckermann, Carlos de Haes and Vicente Palmaroli González, who would be director of the Spanish Academy of Rome during the time of his stay. His painting drinks, therefore, of a strong classicism and the idealized realism of the Majorcan painting of the 19th century. Throughout his career he would direct the School of Arts and Crafts and the Museum of Fine Arts of Palma and would also be elected academician of the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando of Madrid. Between 1924 and 1955 he was vice-president of the Commission of Monuments of the Balearic Islands and would also be vice-president of the Academy of Fine Arts of San Sebastian. He trained numerous painters, among them Pere J. Barceló Oliver, Simeó Cerdà Juan, Josep Pons Frau or Joan Pizà Canyelles. His youthful work focuses on the human figure, with numerous genre scenes, such as Lavadero público de Santa Catalina (1891), Feria de santo Tomàs en Palma (1892), Pescadores (1892) or La vuelta del trabajo (1898). At the beginning of the twentieth century, however, his work would drift towards the landscape, until he made it his main motif of inspiration, the center of his work. He created large, realistic panoramas, with a certain solemnity, where, as we move towards his maturity, the painter shows a growing interest in capturing light. In his most characteristic work, then, the drawing loses precision and becomes more synthetic, more sketched. The color, intense and contrasted, gains importance, along with the brushstroke, the expressive and blurred stroke.