Ramon Tusquets

RAMÓN TUSQUETS I MAIGNON (Barcelona, 1837 - Rome, 1904).
"Dante's Inferno", 1881.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 35 x 46 cm; 44 x 55 cm (frame).

In this painting, Tusquets freely interprets Canto III of the Divine Comedy, and imagines the landscape in which Dante is led to the gates of Hell as a shady and cavernous place. Tusquets begins his studies with Ramón Moliné, and at the same time publishes some of his caricatures in "El tros de paper", signed under the pseudonym Patufet. He then travels to Italy on his own, where he will live for the rest of his life. After a year's stay in Rome, where he studied at the Chigi Academy and joined the circle of Catalan painters living there, he took part for the first time in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid (1867), where he was awarded a third-class medal. He also took part in the Barcelona Exhibition of the same year, where he presented the work "Kitchen", which was acquired by the Provincial Council. In his production of this stage are frequent oriental themes, directly influenced by the work of Fortuny, and views of the countryside and the surroundings of Rome. In 1869 he travels through Andalusia with the Italian Pio Joris, taking notes for compositions such as "El requiebro". In 1871 he sends from Rome a work to the National, being awarded with the second medal. In 1872 he became a close friend of Fortuny, and they traveled together to Naples. There they became acquainted with the latest tendencies of the Portici group and, in particular, became interested in the work of Domenico Morelli. At this time, Tusquets paints landscapes of Naples and Amalfi, and specializes in compositions of rural landscapes with figures dressed in traditional costumes. At Fortuny's death he reproduces in an impressive painting his funeral, where the influence of the "macchiaioli" can be appreciated. In 1875 he exhibited several paintings at the International Circle of Rome, being highly praised by the Italian critics. In 1877 he was awarded the diploma of honor, the only one reserved for foreigners, at the Naples Exhibition, and the Italian Government acquired his work. During these years his works are exhibited in many European cities, being awarded at the Universal Exhibitions of Vienna (1876) and Paris (1878). In 1880 he exhibited for the first time at the Sala Parés in Barcelona. Settled definitively in Rome, Tusquets is named president of the International Artistic Circle of the city. With his works of the eighties he will be consecrated in the official historicist genre, so far from the simple compositions of his previous stages. During his last years he treated a wide range of themes, depicting orientalist scenes as well as customs and historicist scenes. He is represented in the Prado Museum, the MACBA in Barcelona, the Museum of Montserrat and the National Art Museum of Catalonia.