Gudiol, Montserrat

Biography of Montserrat Gudiol

Montserrat Gudiol i Corominas (Barcelona, 1933-2015) was a painter, draughtswoman and engraver, daughter of the art historian and architect Josep Gudiol i Ricart. She began her artistic career as a self-taught artist in 1947. She trained in her family's medieval painting restoration studio, and in 1950 she began to paint on board and on paper. In 1966 he created his first engravings, followed by his first lithographs in 1972.

His work is characterized by a deep sense of fantasy, where color and figures merge in a mysterious world dominated by emaciated, blind figures, often depicted in scenes of motherhood. This work is clearly influenced by the themes of surrealism and the forms of Pablo Picasso during his Blue and Pink periods. Gudiol's art also conveys a sense of interiority, silence, peace and sadness.

He has exhibited his work in Barcelona, Malaga, Seville, Bilbao, South Africa, the United States, the former Soviet Union, Canada and elsewhere. He received the First International Drawing Prize from the Ynglada Guillot Foundation in Barcelona and has works in prestigious collections, including the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), as well as museums in Madrid, Bilbao, Johannesburg, Flint, Montreal, San Diego, Miami, Indianapolis, among others.

In 1980, Gudiol created a monumental Saint Benedict for the Abbey of Montserrat, and in 1981 she became the first woman to be named a full member of the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi. Her works are highly sought after by the best collectors both nationally and internationally.