Dionís Bennàsar

DIONÍS BENNÀSSAR MULET (Pollença, Mallorca, 1904–1967).
“Rocks by the Sea.”
Watercolor on paper.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 32 x 40 cm; 52 x 60 cm (frame).

Born into a farming family, Dionís Bennàssar showed a special aptitude for drawing from an early age. After completing elementary school, he moved to Palma during his teenage years—with his parents’ support—to take drawing and painting lessons, which he balanced with work as a mechanic. However, his formal training was short-lived; his great freedom of ideas and pictorial concepts clashed with the rigid classicism of the time, and he eventually returned to Pollença. After enlisting in the army, at the age of eighteen he was wounded in the war in Morocco and returned to Mallorca. The wound to his collarbone rendered his right hand useless, but this was no obstacle to his determined resolve to devote himself to painting; from then on, he painted with his left hand. From that moment on, he focused his efforts on celebrating the beauty of familiar and beloved landscapes. With his brushes, Bennàssar brought a new dimension to Mallorcan painting, characterized by a grand vision of nature, vibrant colors, and long, loose brushstrokes. Around 1926, the artist came into contact with Anglada Camarasa, who had settled in Pollença in 1913, followed by a large number of his disciples from Paris, including Tito Cittadini, who would become a close friend and mentor to the Mallorcan artist. Dionís Bennàssar actively participated in the town’s social and cultural life. He was a popular and well-liked figure, and was often seen at the Juma bar, where he enjoyed chatting with his friends. He was an artist who cherished his town and its people. Because of this—and for health reasons—he never left Pollença, although he had no shortage of opportunities to do so. In 1940, he held a solo exhibition at the Costa Gallery in Palma, presented by his friend Cittadini. On that occasion, Cittadini remarked that “His art is more than just rhetoric; it is sensitivity, emotion, beauty—in the aristocratic sense of the word...”. Bennàssar won over the critics, earning a scholarship from the Provincial Council for a study trip to Spain’s major cities. The difficult years were behind him, and the artist began to enjoy financial stability that allowed him to buy a house and, in 1943, get married. From this point on, two distinct phases can be identified in the artist’s career: an early period of technical experimentation and a phase of full maturity, exuberant in its use of color. While primarily focused on landscape painting, he also tackled portraiture and even some mythological subjects. Today, Bennàssar’s work is primarily on display at the house-museum bearing his name in Pollença, Mallorca.