19^th - 20^th Century. Spanish

An artist with a vocation from an early age, Isidre Nonell received his first lessons from the painters Josep Mirabent (1831-1899), Gabriel Martínez Altés (1858-1940) and Lluís Graner (1863-1929).

In 1893 he entered the School of Fine Arts of Barcelona, where he met leading artists from his generation and joined the collective known as La Colla del Safrà (Saffron Group), which owed its name to the abundance of yellow and ochre tones used by its members in their paintings: Joaquim Mir (1873-1940), Ramón Pichot (1871-1925), Ricard Canals (1876-1931), Joaquim Sunyer (1874-1956), Adrià Gual (1872-1943) and Juli Vallmitjana (1873-1937).

Through La Colla del Safrà he was also connected with the Catalan avant-gardist artists gathered around Els Quatre Gats. Nonell did the illustration for the cover of issue number 4 (March 1899) of their journal. This facet of his work had started shortly before that, in 1894, with the creation of his earliest drawings for a section of La Vanguardia daily newspaper, followed by others in several satirical publications, including L’Esquella de la Torratxa and Barcelona Cómica and, thanks to the intermediation of Miquel Utrillo, Pèl & Ploma and Forma.

Nonell lived in Paris from February 1897 through July 1898, and, again, from January 1899 until the end of 1900. There, his painting was influenced by Modernism, which was the definite push in forging his own style as a painter.

At the turn of the century he returned to Barcelona, where he devoted himself entirely to painting. The main focus of his work was portraits, mostly of gypsy women, a subject matter that was not warmly received either by critics or the public, who preferred a more pleasing kind of painting and fiercely criticised the artist. It was a difficult period for Nonell, somewhat alleviated from 1908 onwards as a result of his contributions to the satirical magazine Papitu, where his art found a much warmer and appreciative reception.

Success among critics and public eventually arrived in 1910, with an exhibition at Faianç Catalá, promoted and supported by the editorial board of Papitu. However, it proved to be a sweet albeit ephemeral victory as the artist died shortly afterwards, in February 1911, at the age of 38. Isidre Nonell’s reputation grew following his early death, eventually earning the stature of an emblematic artist.

Nonell’s style evolved from the influence of Catalan Post-Impressionism towards a highly expressive and modern painting drawing its influence from France. Apart from the well-known portraits of gypsy women, his subject matters embraced landscapes, still lifes and portraits and caricatures of other kinds.

Works by Nonell are in the collections of major museums, like Reina Sofía, Museu Nacional d´Art de Catalunya, Museu de Montserrat, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao and Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias.