Josep Puigdengolas

JOSEP PUIGDENGOLAS BARELLA (Barcelona, 1906 - 1987).
"La caleta, Cadaqués".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 73 x 92 cm; 93 x 112 cm (frame).
In this work the personal naturalism of Puigdengolas is appreciated, marked by a totally personal chromatism, that balances the warm tonalities with the cold ones to sustain the three-dimensional construction of the space, creating at the same time a vivid and luminous atmosphere, that makes the colors vibrate. His is a short brushstroke, agile and controlled at the same time, which takes advantage of the white color of the preparation to illuminate the darker areas.
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.