Marià Fortuny is one of the most exceptional figures of 19th-century Catalan culture. This year marks the 150th anniversary of his death and, to commemorate it, the Faculty of Humanities at UIC Barcelona, in collaboration with the Amatller Institute of Hispanic Art Foundation, has organised a conference as part of a competitive project funded by the Provincial Council of Barcelona. Three days, from 20 to 22 November, packed with conferences and activities that took place in the unique setting of the Casa Amatller photographic studio and the Catalan National Museum of Art (MNAC), for an exclusive visit to the Cabinet of Drawings and Prints and to see the painter's most important surviving collection of works on paper.

“The aim of this conference was to bring experts on Fortuny together and to listen to the latest conclusions reached by these researchers on one of the most important figures in our culture, yet also a great unknown abroad,” explains Judith Urbano, dean of the Faculty of Humanities at UIC Barcelona and speaker at the conference. This was one of the aspects that stood out during the round table where Luis Ruiz, Emiliano Cano and Artur Ramon participated, one of the most important antique dealers in Catalonia. “Although he travelled a lot and was well known during his lifetime, he died very young, aged just 37, and we don't know how far he could have gone with such a loose and unique brushstroke, long before the Impressionists”, explains the dean and art expert.

In his lecture Luis Ruiz, painter and lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Granada, spoke about the presence of Granada in the paintings of the Catalan artist, identifying many of the spots that Fortuny painted. Meanwhile, Emiliano Cano, filmmaker and independent researcher, studied Fortuny’s epistolary, sharing some of the conclusions he has reached, especially regarding the painter’s death.

Finally, at the Catalan National Museum of Art (MNAC), guided by Francesc Quílez, curator of the Year of Fortuny, the participants of the conference were able to exclusively enjoy drawings and watercolours by the artist, which the general public does not normally see.

This conference was also a tribute to Santiago Alcolea, director of the Amatller Institute of Hispanic Art Foundation, who was due to participate as a speaker but passed away suddenly on 10 August. In her lecture, Judith Urbano recalled Alcolea's work as an art historian and gave the talk that the expert had prepared to highlight the modernity of Fortuny's brushstrokes.