Josep Masriera i Manovens (22 January 1841, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

– 31 January 1912, in Barcelona) was a Catalan landscape painter,

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

and businessman.

Biography

He was born to an artistic family and, together with his brother

Francesc Francesc () is a masculine given name of Catalan origin. It is a cognate of Francis, Francesco, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: *Cesc Fàbregas (Francesc Fàbregas i Soler) (born 1987), Spanish professional football ...

, began his training with his father, who was a

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

. After finishing there, he was sent to study with

Lluís Rigalt Lluís Rigalt i Farriols (1814 – 16 April 1894) was a Spanish landscape painter and graphic artist. Biography He was born in Barcelona, and came from a family of artists. His father was a painter and scenographer, Pau Rigalt and his uncle Joaq ...

at the

Escola de la Llotja The Escola de la Llotja (, "Llotja School"; ), officially the Escola d'Arts i Oficis de Barcelona (Barcelona Arts and Crafts School), is an art and design school located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The school took its name from its initial ...

. In 1857, he and his brother were apprenticed to , a Professor there.Brief biography
@ the

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

. Later, he studied with

Claudi Lorenzale Claudi Lorenzale i Sugrañes (; 8 December 1814 – 31 March 1889) was a Spanish painter, associated with the German Nazarene movement and local efforts to recover the history of the Catalan region. Biography He was born in Barcelona. H ...

. He was married in 1864 and eventually had five children, including

Lluís Masriera Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

, who also became a well-known painter and goldsmith. Shortly after, he and his brother were in Paris, where they may have worked with

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French Painting, painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the Academic art, academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. He was Napoleon ...

. In 1867, he was back at the Escola for some graduate courses and returned to Paris for the

International Exhibition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

to see the latest trends in jewelry. In 1869, he was appointed President of the "Guild of Jewellers and Silversmiths" and became Secretary of the liberal arts division of the "Association for the Encouragement of National Production", a

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

group. In 1873, he was named an Academician at the "Royal Academy of Arts and Natural Sciences". Between 1882 and 1884, he and Francesc built an elaborate workshop on Bailen Street, modeled after the ancient Temple of Augustus on Mont Tàber. It was designed by

Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas (; Barcelona, Spain 1848–1910) was a Spanish architect and artist who formed part of the '' Modernista'' movement. He studied architecture in Madrid and qualified in 1873. He travelled with Lluís Domènech i Mont ...

. Flanking the entrance were statues of

Eduardo Rosales Eduardo Rosales Gallinas (4 November 1836 – 13 September 1873) was a Spanish painter. He was an adherent of the Italian-based art movement known as "Purismo" and specialized in historical scenes. Biography He was born in Madrid. The second ...

and

Marià Fortuny Mariano Fortuny y Marsal (June 11, 1838 – November 21, 1874) was a Spanish painter known for works focusing on Romantic fascination with Orientalist themes, historicist genre painting and military painting of Spanish imperial expansion. B ...

, created by

Josep Reynés Josep Reynés i Gurguí (1850, Barcelona, Spain - 4 June 1926, Barcelona, Spain) was a Spanish sculptor. He devoted himself primarily to interior decoration, but also created religious and funerary works. Life and work His first studies were a ...

. The Masriera's combined art collections were kept there and it became a major cultural center, featuring dramatic performances as well as art shows. In 1932, it became the Teatre Studium and was later connected to the adjoining buildings. It is now a residence for the nuns of the "Petita Companyia del Cor Eucarístic de Jesús".Taller Masriera
@ Barcelofília. He served on the arts jury at the

1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan language, Catalan: ''Exposició Universal de Barcelona'' and ''Exposición Universal de Barcelona'' in Spanish language, Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from 8 Apri ...

and was also an author of some note; publishing books on ornamental design, engraving, chiseling and oriental art as well as biographies of Lluís Rigalt and Claudi Lorenzale. For many years, he and some friends met weekly to create a "magazine" called ''El Recuerdo''. No issues were ever published, but the manuscripts provide an important historical record of the art scene in Barcelona. Hostalric

In 1915, on the suggestion of his son Lluís, the

Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi The Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi (, in English "Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Saint George") is a Catalan art school located in Barcelona. The president is the architect Jordi Bonet i Armengol. The institution ...

created the "Josep Masriera Medal" for young landscape painters. It was awarded until 1962.

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Masriera.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masriera, Josep 1841 births 1912 deaths 19th-century Catalan painters Spanish landscape painters Spanish goldsmiths Painters from Barcelona Spanish biographers

Biography

References

Further reading

External links