Lluis Graner

LLUIS GRANER ARRUFÍ (Barcelona, 1863 - 1929).
"Night landscape".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 65 x 95 cm; 76 x 106 cm (frame).

The nocturnal landscapes of Luis Graner represent the peak of his artistic maturity and are those that gave him international fame, especially in the Paris Salons. As we observe in this canvas, Graner did not paint darkness as a black mass, but as a gradation of deep shadows where the light (from the moon or lamps) acts as a dramatic element.

Luis Graner y Arrufí was an outstanding painter trained at the La Lonja School who, after winning important medals at the Universal Exhibitions in Barcelona and Paris at the end of the 19th century, established himself as a key figure on the international scene. In 1904, he promoted the innovative Sala Mercè in Barcelona, designed by Gaudí, where he experimented with multidisciplinary shows that integrated music, cinema and scenography, although the economic failure of this project forced him to emigrate to America in 1910. During almost two decades on the American continent, he reaped resounding success as a portraitist of high society in New York and San Francisco, even collaborating with the filmmaker David W. Griffith, before a serious illness reduced his creative capacity and plunged him back into poverty. He died in 1929 in Barcelona, shortly after his return, leaving an artistic legacy present in prestigious institutions such as the Prado Museum, the MNAC and the Hispanic Society.