Dionís Baixeras

DIONÍS BAIXERAS VERDAGUER (Barcelona, 1862–1943).
“Fisherman.”
Oil on cardboard.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 26 x 38.5 cm; 42 x 55.5 cm (frame).

A student at the Escuela de la Lonja under Martí Alsina and, above all, Antonio Caba, Baixeras earned the nickname “el medallas” (the medalist) during his student years due to his knack for winning competitions. He exhibited for the first time in 1882 at the Parés Gallery in Barcelona, and four years later he traveled to Paris, where he was captivated by the peasant-themed realism of Millet and Bastien-Lepage. During these years, he won awards at the Fine Arts Exhibitions in Madrid (1884, third prize) and Paris (1886, honorable mention). Upon his return to Barcelona, he created large-scale historical compositions, such as those in the university’s auditorium (1888), those in the seminary (1904, destroyed in 1936), and those on the dome of the Sant Jordi Hall of the Generalitat (1928). In 1907, he created a series of documentary-style drawings focused on depicting corners of Barcelona that would disappear with the construction of the Vía Layetana, for which he received an award from the City Council. In 1926, he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi, and he was associated with the Sant Lluc Artistic Circle from its founding. During his final years, he wrote an interesting set of memoirs, the original manuscript of which is currently preserved at the Academy of Sant Jordi. Baixeras devoted himself primarily to naturalist painting, with maritime or rural themes, in works that show a certain influence from the Olot school. He meticulously crafted his works in the studio, which is why his preliminary sketches possess much greater freshness and interest. In 1908, he produced a collection of drawings—of great documentary value—depicting sites in old Barcelona that were to disappear due to the construction of the Vía Layetana. His works are preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Art and Industry in Roubaix (France), and the MACBA, among others.