19th Century Spanish

This Catalan landscape painter, drawing artist and illustrator began his training at the School of Fine Arts of Barcelona alongside Ramón Martí i Alsina (1826—1894). In 1866 he exhibited his work in public for the first time, specialising in everyday scenes that he would later present at expositions in Zaragoza (1868) and Barcelona (1870—1872). In 1870 Galofré moved to Madrid, where he attended the San Fernando School of Fine Arts, combining his training with work as an illustration artist for periodicals. In 1873 he spent some time in Salamanca, where a watercolour he painted obtained a silver medal.

In 1874 he won a scholarship to the Spanish Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, and remained there for over ten years. In Rome, José Tapiró (1836—1913), a friend and fellow painter also from Reus, introduced him to Mariano Fortuny (1838—1874), who would have a strong influence on Galofré’s style of painting. In Naples he met Domenico Morelli (1826—1901), who would also exert an influence in his later and brighter work.

Moving away from the strict guidelines dictated by the Academy after openly confronting its director, Casado de Alisal (1832—1886), Galofré focused his production on a more commercial painting, in which he was actively encouraged and supported by the art dealer Adolphe Goupil (1806—1893). His celebrity grew after an exhibition in Rome in 1880 and his works went on display at the and the Royal Academy in London.

In 1884 and 1886 he exhibited at Sala Parés, Barcelona, and he never stopped travelling to Italy (Rome, Naples, Venice, Milan, Turin…). A specialist in capturing scenes from everyday life, he created a suite of drawings called España pintoresca (Picturesque Spain) for La Ilustración Artística, a weekly literature, arts and sciences magazine founded in Barcelona in 1882.