Dionís Baixeras

DIONÍS BAIXERAS VERDAGUER (Barcelona, 1862–1943).
“Portrait of a Man.”
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 54 x 40 cm; 72 x 59 cm (frame).

A student at the Escuela de la Lonja under Martí Alsina and, above all, Antonio Caba, Baixeras traveled to Paris at the age of twenty-four, where he became captivated by the peasant-themed realism of Millet and Bastien-Lepage. Upon his return to Barcelona, he created large-scale historical compositions, such as those in the university auditorium (1888), the seminary (1904, destroyed in 1936), and the dome of the Sant Jordi Hall of the Generalitat (1928). He devoted himself primarily to naturalist painting, with maritime or rural themes, in works that show a certain influence from the Olot school. He meticulously crafted his works in the studio, which is why his preliminary drawings possess much greater freshness and interest. In 1908, he produced a collection of drawings—of great documentary value—depicting sites in old Barcelona that were to disappear due to the construction of the Vía Layetana. His works are preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Art and Industry in Roubaix (France), and the MACBA, among others.