José Mirabent

JOSÉ MIRABENT GATELL (Barcelona, 1831 - 1899).
"Still life with flowers", 1866.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated on the window sill.
Measurements: 136 x 94 cm; 141 x 100 cm (frame).

In this canvas José Mirabent offers us a magnificent floral theme of delicate elegance and accentuated naturalism. He captures the roses with botanical precision, recreating the details, but without neglecting the light and atmospheric capture, demonstrating a great mastery of color and glazes.

José Mirabent studied at the Escuela de La Lonja in Barcelona, where he was a disciple of Pablo Milá Fontanals, Claudio Lorenzale and Segismundo Ribó, from whom he was influenced by the Nazarene aesthetic. In 1855 he entered as an assistant at the aforementioned school, obtaining in 1872 the category of professor of decorative painting, fabrics and prints. In his first period he can be considered as a romantic painter attached to the Nazarene line of his masters, and he painted mainly portraits and still lifes with flowers and fruits. Later he specialized in interior decoration, an activity in which his work for the Gran Teatro del Liceo and the University of Barcelona, the Balaguer Museum in Vilanova i la Geltrú and the Madrid churches of Buen Suceso, the Salesas Reales and the convent of the Madres Reparadoras are especially noteworthy. With his paintings of flowers and fruits he took part in the National Exhibitions of Fine Arts, in Madrid, and obtained several prizes: honorable mention in those of 1856 and 1858, third medal in those of 1860 and 1867, and decoration in 1871. He was also awarded a gold medal at the Universal Exposition in Barcelona in 1888. As a portrait painter he portrayed Pablo Piferrer, Ramón Anglasells and Joaquín Rey Esteve, among others. In 1892 he took part in the First Modernist Festival. He is widely represented in the MNAC, as well as in the Prado Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Romantic Museum in Madrid, the Royal Academy of Sant Jordi, the Ateneo and the Gallery of Illustrious Catalans in Barcelona, etc.