Luis Graner

LUIS GRANER ARRUFÍ (Barcelona, 1863 - 1929).
"Forest", 1920.
Oil on canvas adhered to panel.
Signed and dated in the lower right-hand corner.
Size: 190 x 200 cm; 195 x 205 cm (frame).
In this large canvas, Graner goes through a real nature but with a markedly lyrical, metaphysical dimension, with which the painter's mood seems to be identified. Leaving detail and description to one side, reality is configured on the basis of chromatic and luminous rhythms, marked by a short, impastoed brushstroke, loose but precise and thoughtful, which gives nature a vibration and a life of its own.
Luis Graner trained at the La Lonja School in Barcelona, where he was a pupil of Benito Mercadé and Antonio Caba, and in 1886 he moved to Paris thanks to a grant from the Diputació de Barcelona. During his five years in the French capital he won two third place medals at the Universal Exhibitions of Barcelona (1888) and Paris (1889). Settling back in Barcelona in 1891, he continued to take part in important international exhibitions, such as those of Berlin (1891), Munich (1892) and Düsseldorf (1904). He also submitted works to the National Fine Arts Exhibitions, winning third medals in 1895 and 1897, second in 1901 and a decoration in 1904. That same year Graner created the Sala Mercè, designed by Gaudí, where he organised his "musical visions", shows that combined poetry with music, scenography with cinema. Collaborating with him at this stage were Adrià Gual as director of the performances and Segundo de Chomón, as well as well-known poets (Verdaguer, Carner), musicians (Morera, Lambert) and contemporary stage designers (Moragas, Alarma). At the same time, Graner organised the first talkies, using the technique of placing actors behind the screen to lend their voices. Finally, ruined, he moved to America, where he devoted himself once again to painting. He made several trips around the United States and Latin America, spending most of his time between New York, where he painted his first solo exhibition in 1891, and California. In 1927 he returned to Barcelona shortly before his death. His paintings, realistic in form, depict the everyday life of humble people, although he also painted landscapes and portraits. In his interior scenes he showed a profound influence of Latour, learned in his Parisian years, which led him to focus on the expressiveness of artificial light. Specialising in genre painting, he also produced landscapes and portraits.
His work can be found in the Museo del Prado, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Barcelona, the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña, the Hispanic Society in New York and the Museo Balaguer in Vilanova i la Geltrú, among others, as well as in important private Catalan collections.