Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa

HERMENEGILDO ANGLADA CAMARASA (Barcelona, 1871 – Pollença, Mallorca, 1959).
“Landscape.”
Oil on cardboard.
With a note on the back: “Purchased from Mr. H. Anglada Camarasa.”
Work authenticated by Francesc Fontbona.
Measurements: 12 x 16 cm; 29 x 33 cm (frame).

Anglada Camarasa is one of the leading figures in modern Catalan art and, without a doubt, the artist who has achieved the greatest international recognition within Spanish Post-Impressionism. He was the youngest painter of the second Modernist generation and is considered a prominent representative of Post-Impressionism. He began his training with Tomás Moragas, then continued at the Escuela de La Lonja in Barcelona as a student of Modesto Urgell, whom he always hailed as his great master, even though his mature style is very different from Urgell’s. During this formative period, Anglada Camarasa’s work showed a clear interest in landscape and the human figure. After a brief association with the “Els Quatre Gats” group, he moved to Paris in 1894, where his style was influenced by Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Fauvism, and Orientalism. In the French capital, he continued his training at the Julian and Colarossi academies, where he took classes from Laurens, Constant, and Girardot. For Anglada Camarasa, France served as the springboard for his international breakthrough. His work was compared to that of the great names of the time, such as Klimt and Zorn. He also influenced figures such as the young Kandinsky and Meyerhold, and personalities like Gorky and Diaghilev admired his painting. In Paris, he held his first exhibition in 1898, showcasing paintings with elaborate colors and forms and exuberant arabesques, based primarily on themes of the glittering Parisian nightlife. Furthermore, his solo exhibition at the Sala Parés in Barcelona in May 1900, and his time at “Els Quatre Gats,” provided Catalan Modernism with firsthand insight into the most modern painting in Paris—a factor that was decisive in the young Picasso’s turn toward modern art. While still in Paris, Anglada Camarasa joined the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1904, where he became a very active member, regularly participating in its exhibitions. That same year, he took part in an exhibition alongside artists from the Vienna Secession. Around this time, he settled in Montmartre, where he opened a painting academy attended by, among others, María Blanchard and Tito Cittadini. During this period, his international activity increased significantly, and he participated in the Venice Biennales of 1903, 1905, and 1907, receiving the Gold Medal in 1907—an award he also won at the 1910 Buenos Aires Biennale. In 1914, he returned to Spain and settled permanently in Pollença, devoting himself entirely to landscape painting. However, he remained active on the international scene and participated in the 1924 Carnegie Institute exhibition. That same year, he was the guest of honor at the Pittsburgh International Exposition. He also had a solo exhibition at the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. He was named an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of San Fernando in 1954, and three years later he received the March Foundation Art Prize.