20^th-21^st century, Spanish

This Catalan artist was born into a family of French descent who manufactured bells. As a young man, he combined his passion for painting with his work in the family business, until deciding, in 1928, to dedicate himself fully to painting. Mompou’s first teacher was the painter Joaquim Torres i Canosa, and in 1905 he enrolled at . His first exhibition was held in 1908 in Galería Dalmau, and in 1928, Mompou began to work with Sala Parés. Besides, he joined the art collectives Els evolucionistes and Les Arts i els Artistes.

Mompou’s painting shows the influence of Catalan post-Impressionism and also French painting, particularly of Fauvists like Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Albert Marquet (1875-1947). As his practice developed, the artist leaned more towards greater synthesis in his brushwork, somewhat indebted to the style of Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), which allowed him to forge his own personal gaze on reality. Mompou was also influenced by Spanish painters like Darío de Regoyos (1857-1913), Isidre Nonell (1872-1911) and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).

His subject matters cut across many different genres, including landscape, still-life and portraiture. He also worked as an illustrator, a field in which, apart from his illustrations for the satirical magazine Papitu, one could also underscore those made for the books Platero y yo by Juan Ramón Jiménez (1927) and Paradís by Tomás Garcés (1931).

Josep Mompou was appointed a member of the Sant Jordi and San Fernando royal academies and his works are in major museums and collections, like the Reina Sofía Museum and the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection.