19th-20th century Spanish

Despite his early interest in theatre, this Catalan artist ultimately opted for painting. He trained at the of Barcelona under the landscape painter Ramón Martí Alsina (1826-1894), who had a decisive influence on Urgell’s subsequent practice.

After concluding his training in Barcelona, the young artist decided to further his studies in Paris where he entered into contact with Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) and Camille Corot (1796-1875) and acquainted himself with the aesthetics of Realism.

In 1870, now back in Barcelona, he was convinced by the painter Joaquim Vayreda (1843-1894) to settle in Olot, with the added incentive of escaping the epidemic of yellow fever then sweeping Barcelona. This was the period when he fully embraced landscape as the core subject matter of his work.

In the mid-1890s he was appointed as an associate teacher in Perspective and Landscape at the School of Fine Arts of Barcelona where he was to teach, among others, several future great artists like Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso and Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa. Though Salvador Dalí was not among his disciples, he knew and admired Urgell i Inglada’s work, more specifically those depicting graveyards, empty streets and witches, where he perhaps glimpsed a foreshadowing of surreal inspiration.

Some years later he returned to his youthful interest in theatre and wrote some plays that achieved certain renown and were put on stage in Barcelona’s Teatro Principal.

His prolific professional trajectory led to some distinctions, particularly in the 1890s. These included a First Medal at the National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid in 1895 and, one year later, a First Medal at the Barcelona Art Exposition.

His works are included in many collections, such as the Thyssen Bornemisza and the Prado museums, both in Madrid, as well as in private collections and art galleries.