Josep Puigdengolas

JOSEP PUIGDENGOLAS BARELLA (Barcelona, 1906 - 1987).
"Calatayud", 1957.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 73 x 92 cm.
In this work Puigdengolas demonstrates his absolute mastery of the technique and the capture of the landscape, in an image in which he manages to synthesize the naturalistic representation, the personal expression and the pictorial order. We see a sensitive brushstroke, which explores the space and gives it form and entity, creating volumes, lights and shadows, defining an atmosphere captured with great sensitivity. Through a purely personal language, Puigdengolas synthesizes the basic elements of representation and expressiveness of painting, as can be seen in the intensity of his colors or in the rigor of his compositional structure.
Josep Puigdengolas was trained at the schools of Arts and Crafts and La Lonja, in Barcelona, and later completed his studies at El Paular and at the Royal Academy of Florence. He was a disciple of Eliseo Meifrén and Joaquín Mir. In 1951 he was appointed professor of drawing at the School of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi. Although he had his studio in Barcelona, he frequently painted in La Cerdanya and Mallorca, specifically in the town of Deià. His work, of a luminous naturalism, derives from the wake of Mir, and earned him great acceptance by the public. He focused his work on landscape, but he also worked on portraits. Throughout his career he held several solo exhibitions, such as the one organized at the Salón Cano in Madrid in 1962, and participated in group exhibitions and competitions such as the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. A few months before his death, in January 1987, he held his last exhibition at the Sala Parés in Barcelona. He is currently represented at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and the MACBA in Barcelona, among others.