Manuel Cusí i Ferret (1857-1919) - Retrato femenino

The work is signed by the artist at the bottom.

The condition is good.

The work is well framed.

Dimensions of the work: 33 cm in height by 26 cm in width.

Dimensions of the frame: 52 cm in height by 47 cm in width.

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Artist’s Biography:
Born in 1857 in Vilanova i la Geltrú, from a very young age he showed a strong vocation for painting that led him to enroll in the School of Fine Arts of Barcelona. At twenty, he undertook an important journey to Paris, where he studied Painting with Léon Bonnat. In the early eighties, Cusí left Paris to settle permanently in Barcelona, where he began his tireless painter’s career.

He first exhibited in October 1880 at the Parés gallery, where he presented a still life.

Another composition of the same genre he presented at Parés in March 1883. A year later, in the First Exhibition of Fine Arts at the Parés Gallery, held in early 1884, he again presented two still lifes: Fishing and Study.

At the same time, Manuel Cusí cultivated portraiture, a genre he undoubtedly learned beside Bonnat. He received many commissions in this genre from both private individuals and official bodies. Among them stands out the portrait of the journalist Mañé Flaquer, which is kept in the City Hall of Barcelona; that of Joseph Coroleu, which is kept at the Ateneu Barcelonès, and that of economist Romaní Puigdengolas, preserved at the National Promotion of Work. He also painted portraits for institutions in Vilanova i la Geltrú, such as Josep Baró (1885), Josep Lluch i Torrents, and the writer Josepa Massanés (1887). Another interesting portrait is that of King Alfonso XIII as a child (1897), housed in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya.

Genre painting provided Cusí with great success. All the works share a focus on the female figure and place a great emphasis on the handling of light. They are works full of strength and vigor, in which the artist presents us with women who show the viewer all their expressive qualities. Following the contemporary trend in French painting, Cusí was also very interested in themes influenced by Spanish subjects, such as Flamenca (1885), La Manzanilla (c. 1887), Punteando (1887) or Sevillana (1888), with which he won a Third Medal at the Barcelona Universal Exposition.

Among Cusí’s most recurring themes are the girl getting ready in front of a mirror, carnival scenes in which women coquettishly hide behind a mask, dancers, or women at the Liceu in Barcelona. The simple, intimate interiors in which everyday scenes are offered are also examples of Cusí’s work.

Examples include Doradoras (1891) or Al amor de la lumbre, a work presented at the III General Exhibition of Fine Arts of Barcelona in 1896.

In the first decade of the 20th century, Manuel Cusí painted new intimate scenes set in simple settings; examples are Pompas de jabón (c. 1910) and Adornando la palma (c. 1910). In the last years of his life, the death of his daughter and principal model, who featured in works such as La hija del mar (1912), led the artist to refuse to continue painting figures and to choose as the main subject of his work still lifes, canvases in which he continued to show his great ability as a painter.