Segundo Matilla

SEGUNDO MATILLA MARINA (Madrid, 1862 – Teià, Barcelona, 1937).
“Landscape,” 1921.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 80 x 75 cm; 100 x 92 cm (frame).

Although born in Madrid, Matilla trained and pursued his career in Barcelona. He studied at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts under the guidance of Antonio Caba. He participated in numerous exhibitions, such as the Barcelona International Exhibition in 1891, 1894, 1896, and 1898 (honorable mention in 1891), the Barcelona Art Exhibitions in 1918 and 1919, and the Paris Salon of 1897. That same year, he received an honorable mention at the National Fine Arts Exhibition in Madrid. Notable among his solo exhibitions were those held at the Salón Vilches in Madrid (1915) and, in Barcelona, at the Sala Parés (1914) and the Galerías Pallarés (1942), the latter a posthumous tribute. Several of the works exhibited there were purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in Madrid, and many others were exported to the Americas. He achieved great success with both the public and critics thanks to his landscapes of the Ampurdán, Camprodón, Port de la Selva, and Cadaqués. A painter endowed with astonishing skill, a strong personality full of sensitivity, mastery of drawing and painting technique, and boundless energy, Segundo Matilla was an excellent artist who worked in absolutely every genre. He was a great landscape and seascape painter who created high-quality portraits, especially of figures from the world of show business, while his flower still lifes and still lifes were also highly regarded. His bullfighting-themed paintings, executed with great spontaneity and full of movement, demonstrate his deep passion for the art of Cúchares. He always produced paintings that were entirely accessible and free of any kind of intellectual complexity, paying no heed whatsoever to the artistic movements of his time. His work can be found in various museums, such as the aforementioned Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid, the Prado Museum, the Pablo Gargallo Museum in Zaragoza, and the National Art Museum of Catalonia, as well as in major international private collections.