Antoni Fabrés. Exhibition, MNAC, Barcelona: 31 May–29 September 2019

This is archived material. It is for reference purposes only.

Antoni Fabrés, a Catalan painter and sculptor who worked between 19th and 20th centuries, was famous in his lifetime, when he was recognised and appreciated all over Europe, but after his death he was quickly forgotten. The exhibition at the MNAC, from May to September 2019, aims to bring back the attentionthat this artist deserves.

Antoni Fabrés lived and worked in Barcelona, London, Paris, Vienna and Lyon. In 1902 he was even summoned by the President of Mexico to be head of Fine Arts, but in 1907 he decided to come back to Europe, and more precisely to Rome, a very important city for his career and centre of gravity for all the artists that hoped to distinguish themselves.

During his lifetime, he created an artistic fellowship with the famous Spanish painter Marià Fortuny. Both of them were recognised for the intense realism in their paintings: the exotic and oriental places, together with medieval settings complete with musketeers and swordsmen which were so popular with the bourgeoisie of the time.

Fabrés’ oeuvre also is known for the attention he pays to light and on the ways light and colours blend, both on indoor and outdoor scenes, and the way this extreme precision ensures that the painter’s realism sometimes even turns into hyper-realism.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Palau Nacional, Parc de Montjuïc, s/n, 08038

Antoni Fabrés.  Reposo del guerrero, 1878. Barcelona, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
Antoni Fabrés. Reposo del guerrero, 1878. Barcelona, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
Antoni Fabrés. Autorretrato C. 1920. Barcelona, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
Antoni Fabrés. Autorretrato C. 1920. Barcelona, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
Antoni Fabrés. La loca, Entre 1907-1910. Barcelona, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya
Antoni Fabrés. La loca, Entre 1907-1910. Barcelona, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

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