DIONÍS BAIXERAS VERDAGUER (Barcelona, 1862 - 1943). "Shepherds... Lot 9

DIONÍS BAIXERAS VERDAGUER (Barcelona, 1862 - 1943). "Shepherds with flocks of sheep". Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower corner. Size: 116 x 225 cm; 134 x 241 cm (frame). A disciple at the Escuela de la Lonja of Martí Alsina and, above all, of Antonio Caba, at the age of twenty-four Baixeras travelled to Paris, where he became enthusiastic about the realism of the peasant themes of Millet and Bastien-Lepage. On his return to Barcelona he produced large compositions of a historical nature, such as those of the university auditorium (1888), the seminary (1904, destroyed in 1936) and the dome of the Generalitat's Sant Jordi Hall (1928). He devoted himself mainly to naturalistic painting, with marine or rural themes, in works that show a certain influence of the Olot school. He worked meticulously on his works in his studio, which is why his preliminary drawings are much fresher and more interesting. In 1908 he produced a collection of drawings, of great documentary value, of places in old Barcelona which were to disappear when the Via Layetana was built. His work is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Industry in Roubaix (France) and the MACBA, among others.