Fortuny Marsal, Marià (1838-1874)

67 obras

Belonging to a family with a tradition of craftsmanship, he showed a predisposition for painting from a young age and began to attend the Municipal Art School. Being orphaned at the age of fourteen, his grandfather takes care of his guardianship and education. Thanks to a small financial help from two ecclesiastics from Reus, in 1850 they moved to Barcelona with letters of introduction to the sculptor Domingo Talarn. He collaborated in the Talarn workshop and illuminated photographs to survive and managed to enter the School of Fine Arts, which he attended between 1853 and 1857, with Pablo Milá, Claudio Lorenzale and Luis Rigalt as teachers. At the same time he attended the private school of Lorenzale, which would determine his inclination towards romantic painting in this first stage of his artistic production. In 1858 he moved to Rome thanks to a scholarship to further his studies and attended the Chigi Academy. There he interacts with other Spanish pensioners and frequents the gatherings at the Café Greco.
The Barcelona Provincial Council proposes that he travel to Morocco to paint the war events that were taking place there, which will give a complete change to his career. The light of Morocco and the exoticism of the place and its people make him interested in aspects totally unknown in his previous production. You are offered the possibility of traveling around Europe to visit the most important museums. In Paris, he meets Adolphe Goupil, his future dealer, with whom he will sign a contract. The exhibition at Goupil’s gallery in 1870 consolidated his fame; Criticism, among others from Théophile Gautier, is very favorable. By 1874 she had already decided to break off her engagement to Goupil. In November of that same year, he died in Rome from a stomach ulcer.

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