Julio Borrell

JULIO BORRELL PLA (Barcelona, 1877 - 1957).
"The letter".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower corner.
Measurements: 181 x 103 cm.

Two young women read a letter. The emotion is revealed in their pearly smiles and in the brightness of their eyes. Julio Borrell captures with ingenuity the vivacity of the expressions and describes with skill the pleats and laces of the folkloric garments.

Son and disciple of Pere Borrell del Caso, Julio Borrell was trained at the School of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi in Barcelona. From his father he was influenced by the Nazarenes Claudio Lorenzale and Pablo Milà i Fontanals. In 1888, at the age of eleven, he participated with a canvas in the Barcelona competition of the Universal Exposition, together with his brother Ramón, also a painter. From 1894 he took part in almost all the official exhibitions held in Barcelona and Madrid, being awarded with honorable mention in 1897. That same year he won a second medal at the exhibition in Arcachon, France. His name had a special resonance throughout his exhibitions at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, between 1915 and 1920. His wide production includes works in oil as well as in pastel, and covers a wide range of themes. The theme he most cultivated was that of the classic Spanish maja, the women with mantilla and comb, depicted in his personal sensorial style, with extraordinary skill and great mastery of drawing. Among his many paintings, some of which have been widely reproduced, it is worth mentioning "El viático al Liceo", "Lavapiés en Jueves Santo", "Bodas reales" (Royal Wedding), which he painted for King Alfonso XIII, "Luna de miel" (Honeymoon), "El triunfo del cristianismo" (The Triumph of Christianity), etc. He also dedicated himself to decorative painting, creating religious murals for the church of San Francisco in Buenos Aires and the dome of the Basilica de la Merced in Barcelona, which was destroyed in 1936. Throughout his career, Borrell held numerous solo exhibitions in various Barcelona galleries, and participated in group exhibitions and competitions. Many of his works are exhibited at the MACBA, as well as at the National Art Museum of Catalonia and others.