Josep Berga i Boix (25 October 1837, La Pinya,

Garrotxa Garrotxa () is a comarca (county) in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Its population in 2016 was 55,999, more than half of them in the capital city of Olot. It is roughly equivalent to the historical County of Besalú. Geography Garrotxa borders t ...

- 8 October 1914,

Olot Olot () is the capital city of the ''comarca'' of Garrotxa, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The city is known for its natural landscape, including four volcanoes scattered around the city center. The municipality is part of the Zon ...

) was a Spanish landscape painter; influenced by the

Barbizon school The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name f ...

and one of the founders of the

Olot school The Olot school of landscape painting is a group of painters that created an artistic style in the second half of the 19th century. It includes not simply artists from Olot (in Catalonia, Spain), but all artists whose artworks were inspired by th ...

. In his later years he was known as Avi Berga (Grandpa Berga).

Biography

He was born to a family of peasant laborers. His early education came from two local monks and his first exposure to art probably came at the farmhouse owned by his parents' employer. The only way open to continue his education was by pursuing an ecclesiastical career so, in 1852, he went to Olot to attend the

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

."El fundador de l'Escola Paisatgística Olotina: Josep Berga i Boix"
@ DUGiDocs,

University of Girona The University of Girona ( ca, Universitat de Girona, UdG (); ;) is located in the city of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Its real origin dates back to its creation in 1446, but it was reestablished as a new university in 1991. As of 2021, it consists ...

While there, he was able to study drawing with a local artist named Narcís Pascual i Sala (1805-1869). In 1855, he moved to

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

to continue his religious training at the seminary. He was there for six years without making a definite decision about entering the clergy. Along with his official studies, he took private lessons from , who had studied with

Thomas Couture Thomas Couture (21 December 1815 – 30 March 1879) was a French history painter and teacher. He taught such later luminaries of the art world as Édouard Manet, Henri Fantin-Latour, John La Farge,Wilkinson, Burke. ''The Life and Works of A ...

in Paris. When he left the seminary, he found work as a draftsman for the architect, ."Los Directores de la Escuela de Bellas Artés de Olot"
@ Revistas Catalanes.

He became a regular contributor of illustrations for various periodicals, including '. As a result of some work he did for a

Carlist Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimists (disambiguation), Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbon dynasty ...

newspaper, he was briefly forced to take refuge in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

after the

Revolution of 1868 The Glorious Revolution ( es, la Gloriosa or ) took place in Spain in 1868, resulting in the deposition of Queen Isabella II. The success of the revolution marked the beginning of the with the installment of a provisional government. Backgrou ...

, where he met

Joaquim Vayreda Joaquim Vayreda i Vila (23 May 1843 – 31 October 1894) was a Spanish landscape painter. He was originally influenced by the Barbizon school, but later became one of the founders of the Olot school. Biography Vayreda was born in Girona, Sp ...

and was introduced to the Barbizon school of landscape painting. He also took this occasion to make sketches in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

. Upon his return, he applied to be Director at the Drawing School of Olot, but was unsuccessful. He settled there, however, and worked with Vayreda to create a local style of painting, which showed the influence of Barbizon as well as the

Norwich school Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...

. During the

Third Carlist War The Third Carlist War ( es, Tercera Guerra Carlista) (1872–1876) was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relatively trivial ...

, he had to go to France temporarily again. In 1877, he was finally named Director of the drawing school; a position that occupied most of his energies for the rest of his life. Among his best-known students there were

Josep Clarà Josep Clarà i Ayats (16 December 1878 – 4 November 1958) was a Spanish sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Biography Clarà was born in Olot, Girona, Catalonia (Spain) i ...

and Miquel Blay i Fàbregas. In 1880, together with Vayreda and others, he created a special workshop for religious images; "Els Sants d'Olot", which gained an international reputation. Berga later quit in frustration over being unable to change the public's "bad taste" in regards to those types of images.
"Els camins oberts per Berga i Boix" @ ''Revista de Girona''. He was also an amateur writer. From 1893 to 1894, his semi-autobiographical narrative, "L'estudiant de la Garrotxa", was published as a serial in '. This was issued as a book in 1895, with illustrations by several artists from Olot. He later produced a sequel, a study of art in Olot, a play ("La Borda", 1902) and, towards the end of his life, a collection of stories; ''Llegendes de la comarca d'Olot''. In 2000, the Olot Town Council added his portrait to the "Gallery of Illustrious Olotinos".

Selected paintings

File:Berga Boix.Paisatge amb pastor i ramat oli sobre tela obra de Josep Berga i Boix.jpg, Landscape with
Shepherd and Flock File:BergaiBoix s-t(cel rogent) 1908.jpg, Red Sky File:Berga i Boix-Paisatge 1901 Mnac.jpg, Untitled landscape File:Berga Boix.Processó 1909.jpg, Procession

References

External links

Museu dels Sants d'Olot
website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Berga i Boix, Josep 1837 births 1914 deaths Spanish male painters 19th-century Catalan painters Spanish landscape painters Spanish art directors Writers from Catalonia People from Olot

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links