Narcís Puget Viñas

NARCIS PUGET VIÑAS (Ibiza, 1874 - Santa Eulària des Rius, 1960).
"Paisanas", 1957.
Oil on panel.
Signed in the lower left corner. Signed and dated on the back.
Measurements: 35 x 27 cm; 51 x 43,5 cm (frame).

Formed in the Superior School of Arts, Industries and Fine Arts of Barcelona in the Lonja, where he has Antoni Caba i Casamitjana as teacher, he dedicates part of his youth to attend as copyist to the Museum of the Prado, where he will be delighted with the work of the great masters: Goya, Velázquez or Eduardo Chicharro. Puget i Viñas dedicated part of his production to photography, taking portraits of Ibizan families and landscapes of the island, providing an important source of documentation for the Balearic island. With his camera he also recorded the most important events that took place on the island, such as the visit of King Alfonso XIII in 1904. The Image and Sound Archive of the Town Hall of Ibiza preserves a valuable collection of photographs and glass plates of the artist. Since 1916, already married to Guillermina Riquer Wallis set up the photography studio and an academy of drawing and painting. These teachings continued at the Institute of Ibiza, where he taught painting and drawing. Throughout the twenties, he kept in touch with all the artists who traveled to Ibiza, such as Santiago Rusiñol, Rigobert Soler or Laureà Barrau. In 1917 the Valencian painter Joaquín Sorolla visited Ibiza, who, when he saw Narcís Puget's oils, insistently urged him to paint again. This encounter and the subsequent year 1919, in which Sorolla returned to Ibiza, marked his return to painting to never abandon it again. In the mid-twenties, he traveled to Paris. The 20's and 30's are considered an important moment in his career due to the themes he worked on: genre scenes, traditional festivals and characters alone or in small groups wearing typical Ibizan costumes. In the technical aspect the color is used in a brave and luminous way, in a long brushstroke and highlighting well the figures. The island life shown by Puget Viñas was always, whether in work or party scenes, a cheerful and friendly vision of a peaceful society. It was not until 1925 when he exhibited for the first time at the Galerías Laietanes in Barcelona and a few years later, in 1931, at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid. He also exhibited at the Vinçon Galleries and other places. He lived his last years in Santa Eulalia del Rio.