Eliseo Meifrén, Barcelona 1859-1940

Galería del Cisne, Madrid
Sala Parés, Barcelona
Purchased from the above by the present owner in 1981

Madrid, Galería del Cisne, Pintores de fama, 1961, no. 14
Barcelona, Sala Parés, Gran Mostra d'Art Antic i Modern, 1981, illustrated on the catalogue cover

Painted circa 1910, La bahía de Palma, is an outstanding example of Meifrén´s vibrant views of Palma de Mallorca. Travelling constantly in search of inspiration throughout Spain, Meifrén moved to Palma de Mallorca in 1905 to direct the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Palma. Captivated by the light and colour of the island, he beautifully demonstrates in the present work his ability to interpret the two immensities: the sea and the sky. Meifrén revisited these motifs many times while working in Mallorca (fig. 1).

After studying under Antonio Caba and Ramón Martí Alsina, Meifrén spent time in Rome and Paris in the late 1870s. In Paris he came into contact with the Impressionist movement, and although he initially did not feel drawn to it, its influence is evident in his later oeuvre, as in the present work. On his return to Spain,  he came into contact with the group of artists of the Sitges School, in particular Joan Roig y Soler, a landscape painter who had a decisive influence on his work. He also participated in the Catalan Modernista movement, organizing the Modernist Festivals in Sitges 1884. He held his first one-man exhibition at the Sala Parés in Barcelona in 1890, and continued exhibiting his work regularly thereafter in both Madrid and Barcelona.