ARCADIO MAS Y FONDEVILA (Barcelona, 1852-1934) "Lake of Banyoles". Oil on canvas.

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19th & 20th Century Fine Art

By Setdart Auction House

Dec 14, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-12-14 08:00:00 2021-12-14 08:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : 19th & 20th Century Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/19th-20th-century-fine-art-7992
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• Lot Description
  ARCADIO MAS Y FONDEVILA (Barcelona, 1852-1934) "Lake of Banyoles". Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower left corner. Measurements: 131 x 252 cm; 141 x 263 cm (frame). In this lake scene, Arcadio Mas i Fondevila overturns on the landscape his more lyrical self, at the same time that he demonstrates a masterly command of the technique and the impressionist language. The lake of calm waters absorbs like a mirror the faint iridescence of a silver sky marbled with the amber lights of dawn. Two fishermen, in a small boat, take advantage of the sublime stillness to concentrate on their work. An exultant greenery, with emerald tones crossed with sienna shades, envelops the length in a soft embrace. Painter and draftsman, founder of the luminist school of Sitges, Arcadi Mas i Fondevila was formed in the School of La Lonja of Barcelona, where he had as teachers Antonio Caba and Claudio Lorenzale. At the age of twenty he took part in his first collective exhibition, organized in the hall of the Artistic Association of Barcelona. In 1875 he won the first Fortuny scholarship from the City Council of Barcelona, which allowed him to further his studies by traveling to Italy as a boarder between 1876 and 1886. During these years, Arcadi Mas i Fondevila visited Venice, Rome, Naples and Capri, while participating in several group exhibitions at the Sala Parés in Barcelona. Ascribed to the Neapolitan naturalist school of Domenico Morelli, in 1885 he also participated in the exhibition of the Center of Watercolorists of Barcelona. On his return to Catalonia, his friend Joan Roig Soler encouraged him to visit Sitges, and from this meeting and acquaintance was born the luminist school of Sitges, a pictorial current that brought together other artists such as Joaquim de Miró, Antoni Almirall and Joan Batlle. In 1887 he participated in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid, and won a medal for his work "Corpus Christi Procession in Sitges". He also participated in the Universal Exposition of Barcelona the following year, being awarded the first medal. In 1895 he travels again to Madrid, this time accompanied by Santiago Rusiñol and Zuloaga, and later he goes to Granada with Rusiñol, Miguel Utrillo and Macari Oller, with the intention of illustrating some articles of the first one for "La Vanguardia". Mas i Fondevila won two more medals at the Fine Arts Exhibitions in Barcelona in 1894 and 1896, and in 1899 he joined the Círculo Artístico de Sant Lluc. In 1900 he inaugurated the Rovira Salon in Barcelona with his first individual exhibition, a show that consecrated him as a master of pastel. An example of the relevance of this painter can be found in the fact that Picasso had copied one of his nudes from 1895. During this period, Mas i Fondevila also collaborated as a draftsman in "La Ilustració Catalana". Thanks to a donation from the American patron Charles Deering, in 1913 he painted the tympanum of the Santa Catalina portal of the church of San Bartolomé and Santa Tecla in Sitges. Today a copy can be admired "in situ", the original having been erased by the passage of time. In 1928 he was commissioned to paint one of the murals of the Sala de Sant Jordi in the Palace of the Generalitat in Barcelona, and in 1932 he exhibited again individually, this time in the Pinacoteca room. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his death, the Sitgetan Studies Group dedicated an anthological exhibition to him at the Maricel Museum (1985). In his painting, Mas i Fondevila combined Catalan localism with his Neapolitan memories. He also worked on portraits, with outstanding works such as those of Antonio Caba and Pitarra. He is represented in the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the Maricel, the Cau Ferrat and the Sitges Town Hall, as well as in other museums and private collections.
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