BARBARÀ, Joan

Born in Barcelona in 1927 and passed away in Barcelona in 2013. Painter, printmaker, and lithographer, one of the most prominent representatives of Spanish contemporary printmaking. A pupil of Edouard Chimot, he began exhibiting in 1944 and practiced all types of printmaking at the workshop of Francesc Mèlich. His first solo exhibition, featuring paintings and prints, took place in Barcelona in 1957. He subsequently moved to Paris on a grant from the French Institute's Cercle Maillol and attended the Académie de La Grande Chaumière. He worked with the printmaker Lluís Bracons and at the Leblanc and Lacourière-Frélaut workshops, as well as with the lithographer Fernand Mourlot. In Paris, he had the opportunity to print works by Matisse, Picasso, and Miró. In Barcelona in 1966, he joined the workshop of Gustau Gili until 1975, printing works for other notable artists before continuing his craft in his own workshop. A full member of the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi (supernumerary in 2011) and a board member of the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation.