Luis Martí Gras

LUIS MARTÍ GRAS (Barcelona, 1887 - 1961).
"Portrait of Pepita Vidal, aunt of Antonio Rocamora".
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 100 x 80 cm; 121 x 98.5 cm (frame).

The portrait that now goes out to bidding represents Pepita Vidal, aunt of Antonio Rocamora, a prominent collector, patron and scholar from Barcelona in the late nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century. Rocamora is remembered for having assembled one of the most important private collections of art and decorative arts in Catalonia, becoming a figure closely linked to art collecting and the cultural environment of modernist and noucentista Barcelona.

Luis Martí Gras was trained at the School of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi with José Ruiz Blasco and Antonio Caba. In 1905 he was awarded a prize in the Second Apprentice Competition organized by the Barcelona City Council, and three years later he was granted a scholarship by the Sant Jordi Academy. In 1909 he received two awards in the Competition of the Superior School of Industrial Arts and Fine Arts of Barcelona, which consolidated his fame in the national panorama. In 1910 he was again awarded by the same institution. In 1929 he participated in the International Exhibition of Painting, Sculpture, Drawing and Engraving held within the International Exhibition of Barcelona, being distinguished with a bronze medal. He also participated in several editions of the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid, being especially highlighted by critics his painting "Portrait of the painter Carlos Becquer" in 1945. He was also a member of the Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona, of which he was appointed member in 1955. He also held individual exhibitions, such as the one held at the Vinçon Galleries in Barcelona in 1943. In 1960 he participated in the first Barcelona Salon of Modern Art, and in 1987 his work was part of an exhibition held at the Museu d'Art Modern de Barcelona.