Emilio Vilà (1887–1967) was a Spanish artist and poster illustrator born in a small village in
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
called
Llagostera. He studied in Llagostera for some years, and later in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...
. Because of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, he had to move to France (artists were not well seen), where he worked as a painter and poster illustrator. He also painted portraits. In Paris, he knew painters such as
Toulouse-Lautrec and
Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
.
When he was about 60, he returned to his hometown and bought a factory, which he converted to an art gallery. It is now the Emilio Vilà Museum. He died at age 80 in Llagostera.
Although he did dark paintings for a time of his life, his style was mainly shiny and colored.
French printmakers
French poster artists
1887 births
1967 deaths
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