Olot school

In Catalonia, the proliferation of painting coincided with the Restoration, a period marked by economic prosperity that favored the bourgeoisie which was the motor of the cultural renaissance of Catalan nationalism. This bourgeoisie had considerable influence in the arts; it sought art that was realistic, but simultaneously pleasing, elegant, and optimistic, and preferred painting over other artistic disciplines. During this period, several schools of art began and were consolidated, among them the Olot school. The Olot school of landscape painting is similar to the Barbizon school. It was formed by Joaquim and Marian Vayreda with the assistance of Ramón Martí Alsina. From this tradition emerged a new artistic concept: creating multiple versions of the Olot countryside, where the treatment of light and chromatic variations were important elements. The Olot school used the countryside of Garrotxa as a source of inspiration for their work, but with stylistic freedom. Vayreda's paintings attracted the attention of artists including Laureà Barrau, Enric Galwey, Joan Brull, Lluís Masriera, Modest Urgell, Ramon Casas, and Santiago Rusiñol, who went to Olot and also painted depictions of the countryside. • Illustration — Red Sky, by Josep Berga i Boix The Olot school was supported by the founding of the Olot Art School (Escola d'Art d'Olot) in 1783 by bishop Tomás de Lorenzana, and also by the creation of workshops dedicated to the reproduction of religious images. The first workshop that was dedicated to this work, "El Arte Cristiano", was founded in 1880. The industry of religious image making expanded considerably starting around 1900 in Olot, and became an important part of the city's economy. Today, the old Arte Cristiano factory has been converted into the Museum of the Saints (Museo de los Santos). The Olot school was institutionalized by painter Josep Berga i Boix, who served as director of the Olot Artistic and Cultural Center (Centre Artístic-Cultural d'Olot) (founded by Vayreda) in 1869 and later as director of the Public School of Drawing (Escola Pública de Dibuix) from 1877 to 1914. Annual exhibitions were organized first by the Artistic and Cultural Center and then by other entities. Numerous other artists later continued the traditions of the Olot school, often training at the Public School of Drawing (called the Escola de Belles Arts i Oficis starting in 1939) under the direction of Ivó Pascual, Martí Casadevall, Bartomeu Mas y Collellmir, and Joan Vilà i Moncau. Other artists belonging to the movement include Josep Berga i Boada, Josep Clarà, Melcior Domenge, and Josep Pinós.