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 ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Manuel de Montoliu. Her father, Francesc Vidal i Jevellí, was a

cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

, set designer, and a foundry worker interested in art and business. Lluïsa grew up in an encouraging environment for artistic creations. She received her first lessons from her father, and also from Joan González ( Julio González's brother), Arcadi Mas i Fondevila and

Simó Gómez Simó Gómez Polo (11 November 1845 – 11 June 1880) was a Spanish painter and engraver in the Realism (art), Realist style. Biography He was born in Barcelona, and studied at the Escola de la Llotja under Ramón Martí Alsina and in the l ...

. While in Paris, she attended

Eugène Carrière Eugène Anatole Carrière (; 16 January 1849 – 27 March 1906) was a French Symbolist artist of the fin-de-siècle period. Carrière's paintings are best known for their near-monochrome brown palette and their ethereal, dreamlike quality. ...

's lessons, and she was especially influenced by artists such as

Santiago Rusiñol Santiago Rusiñol i Prats (, ; Barcelona 25 February 1861 – Aranjuez 13 June 1931) was a Spanish painter, poet, journalist, collector and playwright. He was one of the leaders of the Catalan '' modernisme'' movement. He created more than ...

(composition resources) and

Ramon Casas Ramon Casas i Carbó (; 4 January 1866 – 29 February 1932) was a Spanish artist. Living through a turbulent time in the history of his native Barcelona, Catalonia, he was known as a portraitist, sketching and painting the intellectual, ec ...

(portraits). When she was 16 she visited

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

with her father and went for the first time to

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 ...

, where she discovered Spanish masters such as

Francisco de Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, a ...

or

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptised 6 June 15996 August 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the Noble court, court of King Philip IV of Spain, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He i ...

and realised the economic value of a good portraitist., p. 75 Her professional career started in 1898, when she was 22 and held her first exhibition at

Quatre Gats ; ) is a café in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that famously became a popular meeting place for famous artists throughout the Modernism, modernist period in Catalonia, known as ''Modernisme''. The café opened on 12 June 1897 in the famous Casa Ma ...

in Barcelona. It was her first exhibition, and she became the first and only woman to hold an exhibition there, though some researchers doubt she even held an exhibition there in her early years,, p. 107 as in the early stages of her career she was closely controlled by her father, who was more prone to less bohemian environments than that of

Quatre Gats ; ) is a café in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that famously became a popular meeting place for famous artists throughout the Modernism, modernist period in Catalonia, known as ''Modernisme''. The café opened on 12 June 1897 in the famous Casa Ma ...

. In April 1898 she exhibited three portraits at the 4th Exhibition of Fine Arts and Artistic Industries in Barcelona. This exhibition held over 2,000 works, some by

Ramon Casas Ramon Casas i Carbó (; 4 January 1866 – 29 February 1932) was a Spanish artist. Living through a turbulent time in the history of his native Barcelona, Catalonia, he was known as a portraitist, sketching and painting the intellectual, ec ...

,

Santiago Rusiñol Santiago Rusiñol i Prats (, ; Barcelona 25 February 1861 – Aranjuez 13 June 1931) was a Spanish painter, poet, journalist, collector and playwright. He was one of the leaders of the Catalan '' modernisme'' movement. He created more than ...

,

Joan Brull Joan Brull i Vinyoles (25 January 1863 – 3 February 1912) was a Catalan painter active in the late 19th century. He was a Catalan symbolist painter, along with other artists including Adrià Gual, Josep Maria Tamburini, and Alexandre de Riquer. ...

,

Joaquim Mir Joaquin Mir Trinxet (Barcelona 6 January 1873 – 8 April 1940) was a Spanish artist known for his use of color in his paintings. He lived through a turbulent time in the history of his native Barcelona. His paintings helped to define the Cat ...

, Ramon Pichot and Arcadi Mas i Fondevila. She received an honorific mention for one of her portraits, which depicted a priest named Collell. A brief review published in ''

La Vanguardia ' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper. Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...

'' mentioned Vidal as one of the best participants, stating that a portrait about a girl in

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

was so simple and suggestive that could be envied by other male portrait painters. Another review, published in '' Diari de Barcelona'' stated that her portraits were so remarkable that those artworks were recommended as an outstanding example of her abilities. In November 1898 she held her first exhibition at

Sala Parés The Sala Parés is the oldest art gallery in Barcelona, Spain. Initially an art store, established in 1840 by Joan Parés, it slowly evolved into a gallery and formally became one in 1877. History Founded by the original store owner's son, , an ...

, with the help of her father and Mas i Fondevila.

In Paris

Vidal left for Paris in 1901. She received her first lessons there from Henri-Léopold Lévy, a republican and academicist painter, but she soon enrolled at

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

, whose women's section was commanded by

Amélie Beaury-Saurel Amélie Beaury-Saurel (1849 – May 30, 1924) was a French painter noted for portraiture. Life and career Born in Barcelona as Amélie Beaury, she added "Saurel" to her name in recognition of her mother's family who could trace their lineag ...

, Julian's wife and former student of the academy, also born in Barcelona. She soon abandoned the academy, disappointed, and after a short trip to England in 1902 she attended

Georges Picard Georges Gabriel Picard (23 December 1857 in Remiremont – 25 January 1943 in Yzeures-sur-Creuse) was a French painter, decorative artist, and illustrator, of Jewish ancestry. Some sources give his year of death as 1946. Biography His father, ...

and

Eugène Carrière Eugène Anatole Carrière (; 16 January 1849 – 27 March 1906) was a French Symbolist artist of the fin-de-siècle period. Carrière's paintings are best known for their near-monochrome brown palette and their ethereal, dreamlike quality. ...

's lessons at Georges Humbert's academy. While in Paris she learned about the

feminist movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and wom ...

and '' La Fronde'', a newspaper published only by women since 1897. She also attended conferences and visited museums, and became more independent and self-confident about her art. She came back to Barcelona in 1902, as three of her sisters were ill, another one was abroad and the family was undergoing economic difficulties.

Back to Barcelona

Vidal went back to Barcelona with a lot of finished artworks and a feminist mentality. She met Carmen Karr,

Dolors Monserdà Dolors Monserdà i Vidal (née, Dolors Moncerdà i Vidal; also known as, Dolors Monserdà de Macià; Barcelona, 1845 - 1919) was a Catalan writer, poet, storyteller, playwright, essayist, and columnist. She was the sister of the painter Enric Mon ...

and Francesca Bonnemaison, and started preparing several exhibitions. '' Pèl & Ploma'' magazine published several of her artworks, and she held an exhibition again at

Sala Parés The Sala Parés is the oldest art gallery in Barcelona, Spain. Initially an art store, established in 1840 by Joan Parés, it slowly evolved into a gallery and formally became one in 1877. History Founded by the original store owner's son, , an ...

. On the other hand, while her family life was crumbling she reached the best stages of her artistic life, becoming the illustrator of ''

Feminal ''Feminal'' () was a feminist magazine written in Catalan and published in Barcelona, Spain. It was one of the most important feminist publications in Spain of the early 20th century. History ''Feminal'' was a Catalan language monthly suppleme ...

'' magazine and holding several exhibitions in Madrid and Barcelona. She also started giving private painting lessons in 1908 so as to earn more money to sustain her family, and in 1911 she opened her own academy, placed in

Isidre Nonell Isidre Nonell i Monturiol (30 November 1872 – 21 February 1911) was a Spanish artist known for his expressive portrayal of socially marginalized individuals in late 19th-century Barcelona. He is considered to belong to the post- Modernista gene ...

's ancient studio. Vidal became especially committed during Tragic Week, when she joined the Women's Popular Library and the Culture Institute, a project devised by Francesca Bonnemaison in 1909 so as to help single, working-class women to get an education. She also became a pacifist activist during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when she joined the organisation of the Feminist Pacifist Committee. In 1914 she held a renowned exhibition at Sala Parés, and Barcelona's press qualified her as a "distinguished woman" and "celebrated artist", which Carmen Karr (aka Joana Romeu in ''Feminal'') found deeply annoying. Vidal died of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

in 1918. She wrote her will on October 12 and left all her belongings to her single sisters. She did not state her profession, as that information was not needed in Spanish documents of that period.

Work

Vidal has been considered a

Catalan modernism ''Modernisme'' (, Catalan for "modernism"), also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan cultu ...

painter, based on the chosen themes, the colour tones and luminous transparencies used. With Joaquim Mir, Oriol Junyent, Joan González, Xavier Gosé, R. Canals and Ramon Pichot, Vidal has been considered as a member of the second Catalan modernism generation. Even some of her works had been attributed to

Ramon Casas Ramon Casas i Carbó (; 4 January 1866 – 29 February 1932) was a Spanish artist. Living through a turbulent time in the history of his native Barcelona, Catalonia, he was known as a portraitist, sketching and painting the intellectual, ec ...

, as both artists show the influence of

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptised 6 June 15996 August 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the Noble court, court of King Philip IV of Spain, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He i ...

,

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

,

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

or

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

.

Portraits

Frederic Vidal, 1895.jpg, Frederic Vidal, the artist's brother, 1895 Maria Luisa Güell i López, 1900.jpg, Maria Luisa Güell i López, 1900 (Barcelona) Retrat de Marta Vidal Puig - Lluïsa Vidal - Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.jpg, Marta Vidal, the artist's sister Marcel Montoliu i Vidal, nebot de Lluïsa Vidal.jpg, Marcel Montoliu, the artist's nephew Carlota Vidal, 1903.jpg, Carlota Vidal, 1903 Sense títol, c. 1903-1905.jpg, Title unknown, c. 1903 – 1905 Ricard Canals, c. 1907-1918.jpg, Ricard Canals, c. 1907 – 1908 Francisca Vidal, 1909.jpg, Francisca Vidal, 1909

Genre scenes

File:Sense títol, c. 1890-1900.jpg, Unknown title, c. 1890 – 1900 File:Maternitat.jpg, Maternity, c. 1897 File:Sense títol,c. 1903, sanguina sobre paper.jpg, Title unknown, c. 1903 File:Les mestresses de casa, 1905.jpg, Housewives, 1905 File:Tornant de misa, c. 1909-1918.jpg, Back from mass, c. 1909 – 1918 File:Primera comunió, c. 1909-1918.jpg, First communion, c. 1909 – 1918 File:Pau Casals i Enric Granados, c. 1911-1914.jpg,

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Enric Granados Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enrique Granados in Spanish or ''Enric Granados'' in Catalan, was a Spanish composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Catal ...

, c. 1911.1914 File:Concert d'Enric Granados al Liceu, c. 1911-1912.jpg,

Enric Granados Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enrique Granados in Spanish or ''Enric Granados'' in Catalan, was a Spanish composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Catal ...

's concert, c. 1911 – 1912

Drawings

File:Sanguina de Lluïsa Vidal. Nu.png, Nude, published in ''Feminal'' File:Sanguina de Lluïsa Vidal de uns nens amb gatets.png, Young boys with kittens. ''Pèl & Ploma'', 1903 File:Sanguina de Lluïsa Vidal. Nena dibuixant.png, Girl drawing. ''Pèl & Ploma'', 1903 File:Sanguina de Lluïsa Vidal. Nens.png, Boys. ''Feminal'', 1908 File:Sanguina de Lluïsa Vidal de la senyoreta Muntadas fem maig1909.png, Miss Muntadas. ''Feminal'', 1909 File:Sanguina de Lluïsa Vidal de Dolors Monserdà.png,

Dolors Monserdà Dolors Monserdà i Vidal (née, Dolors Moncerdà i Vidal; also known as, Dolors Monserdà de Macià; Barcelona, 1845 - 1919) was a Catalan writer, poet, storyteller, playwright, essayist, and columnist. She was the sister of the painter Enric Mon ...

, ''Feminal'', 1914 File:Sanguina de Lluïsa Vidal d'Agnès Armengol.png,

Agnès Armengol Agnès Armengol i Altayó (also known as Agnès Armengol de Badia; pseudonym, Graziella; Sabadell, August 1852 - Sabadell, January 30, 1934) was a Spanish writer, pianist, composer, promoter of women's participation in the Catalanist movement." ...

. ''Feminal'', 1914 File:Sanguina de Lluïsa Vidal de Carme de Castellvi.png, Carme Castellví. ''Feminal'', 1914 File:Sanguina de Lluïsa Vidal de Marguerida Xirgú.png,

Margarida Xirgu Margarita Xirgu Subirá ( ; 18 June 1888 – 25 April 1969) was a Spanish stage actress, who was greatly popular throughout her country and Latin America. A friend of the poet Federico García Lorca, she was forced into exile during Franci ...

. ''Feminal'', 1914

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

''Feminal'' magazine, where many of her works had been publishedArticle on ''Feminal'' about an exhibition by Lluïsa Vidal in 1914Lluïsa Vidal. Painted like a man, disappeared like a woman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Lluisa 1876 births 1918 deaths Women artists from Catalonia Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in Spain Painters from Barcelona Spanish women painters Modernisme painters 20th-century Spanish women artists