Mariano Andreu

MARIANO ANDREU ESTANY (Mataró, Barcelona, 1888 - Biarritz, France, 1976).
"Historical episode".
Watercolor on paper.
Signed at the bottom.
Measurements: 23 x 26 cm; 54 x 62 cm (frame).

Painter, draftsman, engraver, sculptor, decorator and set designer, Mariano Andreu began in the art world attracted by the plastic arts of the spectacle. Mainly self-taught, he sporadically attended Francesc A. Galí's academy. He studied in London at the Municipal School of Arts & Crafts, where he was fascinated by the style of Aubrey Beardsley and by Pre-Raphaelite painting. On his return to Barcelona he joined the Decadentist group, the first manifestation of Noucentisme. In 1911 Andreu exhibited his work for the first time in a group exhibition organized at the Faianç Català. The following year he settled in Paris, a city where he was always a great success with critics and the public, although he returned intermittently to Barcelona. Later he travels to Italy to study the works of the Renaissance, a fact that will definitively mark his work. He held several exhibitions in Barcelona, Paris, Munich, Tokyo, Osaka, London, Brussels, New York, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires. He is represented in the Museums of Theater and Contemporary Art of Barcelona, as well as in various public and private international entities.