Lluís Ribas Castellsague

LLUÍS RIBAS CASTELLSAGUE (El Masnou, Barcelona, 1949).
"Female nude".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 55 x 38 cm; 81 x 64,5 cm (frame).
Lluís Ribas started painting when he was only nine years old, under the guidance of the master José María Martínez. Later he entered the Massana School in Barcelona to study advertising (1963), a more economically promising career than painting, given its strength at the time. In 1964 he began working at Selecciones Ilustradas, first as an errand boy and later as an illustrator and photographer. From the seventies onwards he published his illustrations in European magazines, mainly in the Scandinavian market, and in 1973 he managed to make one of his greatest dreams come true: to publish a cover in the American magazine "Vampirella", one of the most important comic publications in the world. However, in 1975, following the death of his mother, Ribas decided to devote himself to what had always been his true vocation: painting. As a consequence, he left Selecciones Ilustradas, and a year later he held his first individual exhibition at the Xarxa gallery in Calafell. That same year he wins the Popular Jury Prize in the contest "La Vinya i el Vi" of Vilafranca del Penedès, the only contest he has entered in his entire career. In 1977 he had his first solo exhibition in Barcelona, at the Época gallery, and since then he has held regular exhibitions in various Catalan towns, as well as participating in fairs such as Arco and Artexpo. In 1986 the first book dedicated to his work was published, written by Francesc Galí, and two years later he gave his first television interview. In 1995 the Espai Lluís Ribas was inaugurated in Sant Cugat del Vallès and in 1998 he celebrated his first individual exhibition in New York. He is currently represented in the Museum of Montserrat and the Municipal Museum of El Masnou, among other public and private collections.