Antoni Fuster i Banús

ANTONI FUSTER I BANÚS (Reus, 1865 - 1950).
"Il contino".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right-hand corner.
Size: 54,5 x 45,5 cm.
This work Antoni Fuster i Banús makes an oil copy in a similar format to the original, as a compositional study, of the watercolour entitled "Il contino" by Marià Fortuny, which is currently in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. "Il Contino" (1861) is Fortuny's first approach to genre themes and one of the works from his early Roman period in which he displays the greatest virtuosity. It became one of the masterpieces of the Catalan artist's early years, when he was living in Rome thanks to a pension granted by the Diputació de Barcelona. At the age of only 23, the painter enjoyed great technical skill, which he reflected in the drawing referred to. In front of the Baroque fountain in the gardens of the Villa Borghese he depicts a young man with an air of affected, distant elegance, emphasised by his 18th-century clothing - coat, waistcoat and shirt - his rapier and powdered wig. It is a figure that corresponds to a common typology of the period, but to which Fortuny gives his own stamp. His artistic skill can be appreciated in the original in the subtlety with which he recreates the transparency of the water flowing from the fountain, his skill in the distribution of the shadows and his splendid sense of colour. This work by Fortuny is a magnificent example of what is known as casacone painting, characterised by its meticulousness of description and sensitivity to light. However, Fuster i Banús was not interested in these aspects but in the expressiveness of the composition and setting itself.
Antoni Fuster i Banús stood out as a notable watercolour painter in the artistic milieu of Reus. A pupil of the painters Domènec Soberano and Josep Tapiró i Baró, Banús specialised in producing landscapes, especially of Reus and Tarragona, and seascapes that became an important documentary source of what these cities were like in the past. He was a member of the Agrupación de Acuarelistas, exhibiting his work in different cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, becoming a teacher of artists such as Ceferí Olivé and Francesc Torné, among others.