Rafael Benet worked as a painter, critic and art historian. He began his training in Terrassa with his uncle, the modernist painter Joaquím Vancells, at the art school of Francesc d’Assís Galí, and also at the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc, where he was president from 1928 to 1930. As an art historian, he carried out studies and monographs on leading artists, including the painter Joaquim Vayreda, Emili Bosch Roger, Isidre Nonell, and sculptors such as Manolo Hugué and Joan Rebull. He wrote his magazine articles, such as those in La Veu de Catalunya, under the pseudonym Baiarola. The collection of his articles constitutes an excellent corpus of the art scene of the 1920s and 30s. He was also involved in the creation of Tossa Museum in 1935, the first Catalan museum dedicated to contemporary art from all over the country, and with works by foreign artists. This landscape in intense greens focuses the pictorial space on the use of colour and the expressive brushwork to represent the powerful nature of the valley in a schematic and almost abstract way. His relationship with Andorra began in 1955, when he was commissioned by the Government of Andorra, together with Manual Humbert, to carry out research on the heritage of Andorra. This was part of efforts to recover and restore the country’s artistic heritage and the campaign to restore pre-Romanesque and Romanesque churches and chapels, led by the architect Cèsar Martinell.

Year 1964

Oil on wood

60,5x81,5 cm

Rafael Benet Vancells, 1889 - 1979