Venancio Vallmitjana

Venancio Vallmitjana studied at Escola de la Llotja. Rossend Nobas is recorded as having studied under Venancio Vallmitjana. The recorded working language is Spanish and Catalan. Work by Venancio Vallmitjana is recorded in the collections of Museo del Prado, Museu Frederic Marès, Museu del Modernisme Català, Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer and Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.

• Name — Venancio Vallmitjana Barbany • Born — 1 April 1830 • Birthplace — Barcelona, Spain • Died — 3 September 1919 • Place of death — Barcelona • Citizenship — Spanish • Education — Escola de la Llotja • Occupation — Sculptor • Organization — Reial Acadèmia de Ciències i Arts de Barcelona Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi • Children — Agapito Vallmitjana Abarca

Vallmitjana studied at the Escola de la Llotja in Barcelona, where he received instruction from the sculptor Damià Campeny. In 1856 he was appointed professor at that school. His important role as a teacher has been highlighted, as many of his pupils went on to achieve great success as sculptors, among them Josep Llimona, Pablo Gargallo, and Eusebi Arnau. He has been regarded as an artist ahead of his time, and indeed on more than one occasion he clashed with the canons of "official" art. Venancio Vallmitjana's life and works were closely linked to those of his brother Agapito Vallmitjana, also a sculptor, and the two in fact signed all their works "V. y A." This has made it very difficult to distinguish the work of each one subsequently. He shared a studio with his brother until 1883, when he opened a new studio with his son, also a sculptor, Agapito Vallmitjana Abarca. Connected to the Court — Queen Isabella II visited the brothers' studio in Barcelona in 1860 and a year later they presented their work at the Royal Palace of Madrid — and to a purist aesthetic with Renaissance influences, cultivated to a greater degree by his brother Agapito, Venancio opened himself up to the French influence, more monumentalist in nature, and in 1873 he travelled to Paris. He also worked with his son, Agapit Vallmitjana i Abarca. Vallmitjana died in Barcelona in 1919.

• Illustration — Fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosario Monumental of Montserrat. The Way of the Cross. • 1861 – Second medal at the National Exhibition in Madrid. • 1873 – Second prize, Le Figaro, in Paris. • 1890 – First medal at the National Exhibition in Madrid.

• Cargador de Bilbao. Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. • 1862. Santa Isabel de Hungría (in collaboration with his brother Agapito). Museo del Prado. Marble group given by the brothers to Queen Isabella II, who assigned them a pension of two thousand reales per month for the duration of the work's execution after having seen and approved the sketch at the palace. • 1880. Bust of Jesús de Monasterio. Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Madrid. • 1882. Design for Venus in the monumental Cascada (waterfall) in the Ciutadella Park, Barcelona.. The sculpture was executed by Eduard B. Alentorn. • 1884. Faun. • 1884. Allegory of Commerce and Industry. Entrance to Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona. • 1884. The original sculpture of the work A López y López, which was completely destroyed in 1936. • 1887. Beauty Dominating Force. Museo del Prado, Madrid. • 1887. Enamelled Virgin. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. • 1889. Queen María Cristina de Habsburgo-Lorena with Alfonso XIII. Maritime Museum of Barcelona. • 1890–1896. Majo and Maja. Museo Nacional del Prado. • 1891. Queen María Cristina and the infant Alfonso XIII. Museo del Prado. • 1899. Christ for the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosario Monumental of Montserrat. • 1900. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Fourth Glorious Mystery of the Monumental Rosary of Montserrat. • 1902. The Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. Second Joyful Mystery of the Monumental Rosary of Montserrat. • 1903. Bust of Mozart. • 1913. Fuente de Diana. Monument located on the Gran Vía of Barcelona. • Pantheon of Joan Niqui, in the Poblenou Cemetery, Barcelona.

His recorded languages were Spanish and Catalan. One child is recorded: Agapit Vallmitjana i Abarca.