Emilio Bosch i Roger
Barcelona 1894 - Barcelona 1980

A self-taught Catalan painter, Bosch Roger began his career as a set designer presenting works at the Sixth International Art Exhibition held in Barcelona in 1911. He was representative of the Catalan landscape painting genre promoted by the 'Generation of 1917', comprising several collectives such as the Catalan Artists Group, of which Bosch Roger was a founding member in 1919 and the Evolutionists, created in 1917, of which he was also a member. These artists exhibited at the Galeries Dalmau, where Bosch Roger held his first solo exhibition in 1926. He developed on the theme of the urban landscape (particularly that of Barcelona), but also painted rural landscapes and still lifes. His work is characterized by its loose, frenzied brushstrokes with a fauve-like expressionist use of colour, although in the mid-twentieth century his forms became more schematic.

In 1931 he won the Cambó Prize in a competition held by the Círculo Artístico, entitled 'Barcelona as Seen by its Artists'. He was also renowned for his drawings and in 1968 won the City of Barcelona Drawing Prize. He took part in the National Fine Arts Exhibitions of 1942, 1944, 1957 (Gold Medal) and 1960 (Third Class Medal). His work was frequently exhibited in galleries in Barcelona, including the Sala Parés, Galerías Layetanas and La Pinacoteca. In 1959 he held his first retrospective at the Exhibition Hall of the General Directorate of Fine Arts in Madrid.

Roberto Díaz