Rafael Durancamps

“The Town of Aragon”, 20th Century Oil on Canvas by Artist Rafael Durancamps

Circa 1930

Rafael Durancamps i Folguera (Sabadell, March 29, 1891 [1] - Barcelona, January 4 [2], 1979) was a Spanish painter. He learned the trade under the orders of Joan Vila Cinca and the influence of Joaquim Mir, with whom he established friendship as a young man. He visited several museums to impregnate himself with the technique of great masters such as Velázquez or El Greco. At this time his work shows a colorism where the influences of his teachers are noticed and he still signs his works as R.Durán i Camps. He exhibited for the first time in 1915 at the Academy of Fine Arts of Sabadell, within the framework of a collective exhibition. His first major show was in 1917, when he exhibited at the Galleries Laietanes. Later, in 1926, he went to live in Paris, where he created his own style, creating mostly dead natures and landscapes. [3] During his stay in Paris he opened an Art Gallery, known as La Fenêtre Ouverte. In this room exhibited artists such as Dalí, Cézanne, Derain, Dufy, Miró or Picasso. Thanks to this gallery, Durancamps came into contact with the high Parisian society. Once again in Sabadell, he was commissioned to paint some murals for the house of the town of the Poble Espanyol, on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition of 1929 in Barcelona. In 1930 he participated in the exhibition Barcelona seen by his artists, organized by the Royal Artistic Circle, which was held at the Palace of Decorative Arts of Barcelona, ​​in which he presented the work El Port i muntanya de Montjuïc ( No. 188). [4] From 1932 he exhibited annually in Sala Parés, although his stay in Paris was extended until 1939, when he returned to Catalonia with the outbreak of World War II. He settled in Barcelona, ​​but spent seasons in Sitges, Cadaqués ... and often exhibited in Barcelona and Madrid, [5] where he used to visit the Museo del Prado as a whole. He went to Madrid where he delivered the lecture «Lacras de la Pintura Actual», where he strongly criticized the avant-garde art and all the isms of the 20th century. His work can be seen at the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC), the Thermalia Museum, the Montserrat Museum, the Valls Museum, the Museu de Història de l'Hospitalet, the Víctor Balaguer Museum Library, the museum Vinseum, the Empordà Museum, the Sabadell Museum of Art [6] and in Madrid, among other collections of the country, such as the Gelonch Viladegut Collection [7] and international ones.