Josep Hurtuna Giralt

JOSEP HURTUNA GIRALT (Barcelona, 1913 - 1978).
"Boats".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner and on the back.
Measurements: 60 x 73 cm; 72 x 85 cm (frame).
Painter and engraver, disciple of Manuel Mensa, Josep Hurtuna studied at the School of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi, in Barcelona. He held his first individual exhibition in 1944, in Barcelona, and since then he has shown his work in personal exhibitions also in Madrid, Santander and Rome, as well as in other countries, taking part in group exhibitions. He was a founding member, in Barcelona, of the Salones de Octubre (1948-1955), and a regular at the Salones de Mayo. He participated in contests and official exhibitions, being awarded the second medal at the National Fine Arts in 1960. Four years later, in 1964, he was awarded the First Joan Miró International Drawing Prize in its third edition. He has also won the First Prize for Engraving Xavier Nogués (1948), the Grand Prize for Engraving at the III Bienal HIspanoamiercana de Arte (1955), the First Prize for Painting Juan Gris (1961) and the First Prize for Drawing Ynglada-Guillot (1974). His style evolved from an initial post-impressionist figuration to the abstraction of his last years (1959-1970), passing through geometric neo-figuration during the fifties. His first abstract works are colorful and bright, but Hurtuna will be refining his language taking simplification to its maximum expression, assuming the black color as maximum prerogative. He is currently represented in various private collections, as well as in the Museums Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona, the Museum of Valls and the Museum of Montserrat.