Eliseo Meifrèn i Roig (24 December 1857/59,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

– 5 February 1940, Barcelona) was a Spanish

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

painter.

Biography

Following his passion for art, he gave up the study of medicine and enrolled at the

Escola de la Llotja The Escola de la Llotja (, "Llotja School"; ), officially the Escola d'Arts i Oficis de Barcelona (Barcelona Arts and Crafts School), is an art and design school located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The school took its name from its initial ...

,Brief biography
@ the

Carmen Thyssen Museum The Carmen Thyssen Museum (Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga) is an art museum in the Spanish city Málaga. The main focus of the museum is 19th-century Spanish painting, predominantly Andalusian, based on the collection of Carmen Cervera, fifth wife o ...

. where his teachers were

Antoni Caba Antoni Caba i Casamitjana (1838 – 25 January 1907) was a Spanish painter who worked in the Realistic style and is best known for his portraits. Biography Antoni Caba was born in Barcelona. He attended the Escola de la Llotja during the 185 ...

and

Ramon Martí Alsina Ramón Martí i Alsina (10 August 1826, Barcelona - 21 December 1894, Barcelona) was a Spanish painter in the Realistic style. Biography He was born to the humble family of a city official and was orphaned at the age of eight. Upon his return to Spain in 1881, he participated in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. Meifren-Peasant

The following year, he married, honeymooned in Paris, and settled there. His first personal exhibition came in 1890 at the

Sala Parés The Sala Parés is the oldest art gallery in Barcelona, Spain. Initially an art store, established in 1840 by Joan Parés, it slowly evolved into a gallery and formally became one in 1877. History Founded by the original store owner's son, , an ...

in Barcelona, where he presented seventy oils and surprised everyone by auctioning off the works that did not sell, with his friend

Santiago Rusiñol Santiago Rusiñol i Prats (, ; Barcelona 25 February 1861 – Aranjuez 13 June 1931) was a Spanish painter, poet, journalist, collector and playwright. He was one of the leaders of the Catalan '' modernisme'' movement. He created more than ...

acting as the appraiser. He used the proceeds to return to Italy. In 1892, he went back to Paris and began to associate with the Impressionists, producing changes in his use of colors. Five years later, he accepted an invitation from the President of the "Gabinete Literario", and moved to

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. His home there became a makeshift art academy, where

Néstor Martín-Fernández de la Torre Néstor Martín-Fernández de la Torre, generally known simply as Néstor (4 May 1887, Las Palmas – 6 February 1938, Las Palmas) was a Canarian painter and theatrical designer who worked in the Symbolist and Art Deco styles. Biography He b ...

was one of his students.

More travels

His fame peaked at the turn of the century, with exhibitions in South America as well as Europe. However, after the commercial failure of his works at the "Real Círculo Artístico de Barcelona", he decided to move to Buenos Aires. He arrived there in 1903, held his first exhibition shortly after and organized a large exposition of Catalan painters in 1904, including five pastels by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

. In 1905, he was offered the position of Director at the "Escola de d´Arts i Oficis de Palma" on

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, accepted, and moved again. He continued to travel however, to France, Italy, Buenos Aires and Brussels, where he participated in the

International Exposition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

, winning the Silver Medal. In 1915, he travelled to the United States to promote himself at the

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

, receiving honorable mention, and won the Grand Prize at an exhibition in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. He then settled briefly in New York, where he displayed his paintings of Mallorca and

Cadaqués Cadaqués (; ) is a town in the Alt Empordà ''comarca'', in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is on a bay in the middle of the Cap de Creus peninsula, near Cap de Creus cape, on the Costa Brava of the Mediterranean. It is a two-and-a- ...

, a village where he had spent his summers since 1886. Finally, in 1917, he returned to Barcelona to stay. His wife died in 1924 and he remarried in 1930. When the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

began, he and his family fled to

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain. Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...

, where they lived as refugees until 1939. In December of that year, his final exhibition was held in Barcelona at the Sala Gaspar. It was a critical and financial success, but he was too ill to attend.Notice of Meifrèn's last exhibition
in: ''

La Vanguardia ' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper. Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...

''. 6 January 1940 A few weeks later, his health worsened rapidly and he died in February, in his home city of Barcelona. Meifren-Pontevedra

Notes

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Meifrèn

"El Arte de Meifrén en el paisaje español".
Conferencia de Francisco Pérez-Dolz. ''Círculo Artístico'', Barcelona. 22 March 1941
Eliseo Meifrén y Roig (blog).
Biography and photographs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Meifren, Eliseo 1850s births 1940 deaths 19th-century Spanish painters Spanish male painters 20th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish male artists Painters from Barcelona Spanish Impressionist painters Spanish landscape painters 19th-century Spanish male artists

Biography

More travels

Notes

References

Further reading

External links