Dionís Baixeras

DIONÍS BAIXERAS VERDAGUER (Barcelona, 1862 - 1943).
"Meeting of shepherds".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 61 x 100 cm; 80 x 120 cm (frame).

The painting of Dionís Baixeras is characterized by a sensitive and poetic naturalism that portrays humble scenes of the Catalan rural and marine life with great humanity and serenity. He uses a palette of earthy tones, muted greens and soft skies to create melancholic and tranquil atmospheres, where the human figures appear integrated into the landscape in a natural way, with a lively but restrained brushstroke that conveys intimacy, silence and daily dignity rather than drama or idealization.

A disciple at the Escuela de la Lonja of Martí Alsina and, above all, of Antonio Caba, at the age of twenty-four Baixeras traveled to Paris, where he became enthusiastic about the peasant-themed realism of Millet and Bastien-Lepage. On his return to Barcelona he painted large historical compositions, such as those of the auditorium of the university (1888), those of the seminary (1904, destroyed in 1936) and those of the dome of the Sant Jordi hall of the Generalitat (1928). He devoted himself mainly to naturalistic painting, with marine or rural themes, in works that show a certain influence of the school of Olot. He meticulously elaborated his works in the workshop, so his previous drawings have much more freshness and interest. In 1908 he made a collection of drawings, of great documentary value, of places in old Barcelona that were to disappear during the construction of the Via Layetana. His work is preserved in the Metropolitan of New York, the Museum of Art and Industry of Roubaix (France) and the MACBA, among others.