The Museu Carmen Thyssen Andorra proposes this week a new guided visit of our exhibition “INFLUENCERS in art. From Van Goyen to Pop Art”.
Today we invite you to discover “Pobla de segur” c. 1934 by Miquel Villà i Bassols, from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza collection.
Born in 1901 and died in 1988, Miquel Villà i Bassols is one of the most singular Catalan painters of the 20th century. Originally from Barcelona, he travelled with his father as a child to Europe and Latin America. In Bogotá, he was a student at the School of Fine Arts.
On his return to Europe, he settled in Paris, where he entered the Colarossi Academy. It was there that he discovered avant-garde references such as Paul Cézanne, Maurice de Vlaminck and Henri Matisse, three artists who would inspire him throughout his life.
His return to Spain marked the beginning of his success. Enriched for years by the influences he acquired during his travels, Villà i Bassols developed a unique artistic and aesthetic language that blends multiple techniques.
Influenced by the treatment of Fauvist colours, his work is mainly characterised by the Matterism movement. This artistic movement, which emerged around the Second World War in France and spread as far as Spain and Italy, is defined by the use of non-traditional materials that are combined with pigments. The artist, who treats this mixture in impasto on the canvas, plays with volumes and colours, creating each time a unique and striking work, straddling between painting and modelling.
The use of these natural elements as a technique gives the works of Villà i Bassols a realistic dimension both aesthetically and materially. The landscape, beyond being a representation of nature, becomes its embodiment on the canvas.
