Modest Urgell

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Modest Urgell: Paisatge / Landscape , 1885–1895, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya , Barcelona

Modest Urgell i Inglada (born June 13, 1839 in Barcelona ; † April 3, 1919 there , also Modesto Urgell i Inglada ) was a Spanish painter and comedy writer. The painterly work of the artist, who also works under the pseudonym Katúfol , is at the transition from realism to impressionism . His favorite subjects were landscapes of his Catalan homeland.

Life

Urgell's artistic interest was initially in the theater. However, his parents forbade him to study acting at the Teatro de Santa Cruz in Barcelona. Instead, he began studying painting at the Escola de la Llotja with Ramon Martí i Alsina , a painter who was close to the French painters of realism. His parents then financed him a longer stay in Paris, where he joined Gustave Courbet . Back in Spain, in the 1860s, he showed his work several times at exhibitions in Barcelona and Madrid, where critics rejected his work as too progressive.

Modest Urgell: Marina , 1892

In 1870 Urgell spent some time in Olot , where the painter Joaquim Vayreda had settled, who had founded the artist group Escola d'Olot here based on the model of the Barbizon School . This association of Catalan landscape painters had a lasting influence on Urgell's painting. His work is at the transition from realism to impressionism. He preferred the romantic landscapes of his Catalan homeland as a motif. Lonely beaches, cemeteries or churches with a characteristic melancholy mood can be found repeatedly in his compositions, which were designed with the most economical means. He often chose autumnal scenarios in which a sunset occasionally creates a special color mood.

He signed some of his works with the pseudonym Katúfol and from 1877 exhibited regularly at the Sala Parés gallery in Barcelona. From the mid-1870s onwards, he received numerous awards at exhibitions of his paintings in Barcelona and Madrid. His pictures also found recognition abroad. He successfully showed his work in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Munich and Philadelphia. In addition, the Spanish ex-Queen Isabella II , who lives in Paris, bought some of his works. From 1894 he taught as a professor of landscape painting at the Escola de la Llotja, where Joan Miró was one of his students . His works can now be found in various Spanish museums, and the Hamburger Kunsthalle also owns a landscape painting by Urgell.

Urgell founded the Catalan artists and writers association Sociedad Artística y Literaria de Cataluña . As a comedy writer, he published several works. These include Turbonada (1870), Lluny dels ulls (1898), Un terròs de sucre (1898), Añoranza! (1899), Por (1901) and Valor (1907). In addition, he brought out his autobiography Memorias de una patum in 1913 .

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Commons : Modest Urgell  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Urgell, Modest
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Urgell i Inglada, Modest; Urgell i Inglada, Modesto; Katúfol (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish painter and comedy writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 13, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 1919
Place of death Barcelona