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Lot description
JULIO BORRELL PLA (Barcelona, 1877 - 1957). "Woman among jugs". Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower left corner. Size: 120 x 90 cm; 136 x 103 cm (frame). The laughing blonde portrayed by Borrell in this painting exudes sensuality but without any mannerism, her gaze being jovial and complicit with that of the painter. Borrell is also skilful in capturing her temperament, and does not neglect the casual arrangement of jugs and vases around the body cut out of the wooden door. The son and disciple of Pere Borrell del Caso, Julio Borrell trained at the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. From his father he was influenced by the Nazarenes Claudio Lorenzale and Pablo Milà i Fontanals. In 1888, at the age of eleven, he entered a canvas in the Barcelona competition for the Universal Exhibition, together with his brother Ramón, also a painter. From 1894 onwards he took part in almost all the official exhibitions held in Barcelona and Madrid, and was awarded an honourable mention in 1897. That same year he was awarded a second medal at the exhibition in Arcachon, France. His name had a special resonance throughout his exhibitions at the Sala Parés in Barcelona between 1915 and 1920. His extensive output included both oil and pastel works, and covered a wide range of subjects. The theme he most cultivated was that of the classic Spanish maja, the women in mantilla and comb, depicted in his personal sensorial style, with extraordinary skill and great mastery of draughtsmanship. Among his many paintings, some of which have been widely reproduced, mention should be made of "El viático al Liceo", "Lavapiés en Jueves Santo", "Bodas reales", which he painted on behalf of King Alfonso XIII, "Luna de miel", "El triunfo del cristianismo", etc. He also devoted himself to decorative painting, producing religious murals for the church of San Francisco in Buenos Aires and the dome of the Basílica de la Merced in Barcelona, which was destroyed in 1936. Throughout his career, Borrell held numerous solo exhibitions in various Barcelona galleries and took part in group exhibitions and competitions. Many of his works are on display at the MACBA, as well as at the National Art Museum of Catalonia and others.