MIQUEL VILLÀ I BASSOLS (Barcelona 1901-1988). "Tafí... Lot 34

MIQUEL VILLÀ I BASSOLS (Barcelona 1901-1988). "Tafí Viejo", 1942. Oil on canvas. Signed, dated and located on the back. Size: 21 x 26 cm; 50 x 54,5 cm (frame). Miquel Villà i Bassols was a Spanish painter, and one of the main representatives of Fauvism in Spain. At the age of 13 his father, a wine merchant, took him with him to Colombia (Bogotá). There he attended the school of fine arts until 1918. In 1920 he discovers Paris, which will be his habitual residence until 1930. In Paris he attends the Colarossi Academy. He made friends with Jean Fautrier, Marcel Duchamp, Togores, Pancho Cossío and the sculptor Pablo Gargallo, who greatly influenced his artistic career. His main influences were Cezanne and, at the beginning of his artistic career, Maurice de Vlaminck. He was also greatly influenced by Rembrandt's last period. From 1930 onwards he lived mainly in Catalonia: Barcelona, Masnou, Puebla de Segur, and spent some periods in Ibiza. In 1985 he was awarded the Cross of Sant Jordi by the Generalitat de Catalunya.