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Lot description
VENANCI VALLMITJANA BARBANY (Barcelona, 1829-1919). "Cybele". Patinated terracotta. Signed. Measurements: 40 x 61 x 28 cm. Sculptor formed in the School Llotja of Barcelona, where he received classes of Damià Campeny. In 1856 he was named professor of the Llotja, where he had disciples of great stature, like Josep Llimona, Pablo Gargallo and Eusebi Arnau. His life and work is closely linked to that of his brother Agapit Vallmitjana, also a sculptor, with whom he had a workshop in common, until 1983, when he opened a new workshop with his son, also a sculptor, Agapit Vallmitjana i Abarca. Among the awards received we can mention: Second medal at the National Exhibition in Madrid, 1861; Second prize "Le Figaro" in Paris (1873) and First medal at the National Exhibition of 1890. Among his public sculptures, the Allegory of Commerce and Industry, located at the entrance to the Parque de la Ciudadela in Barcelona, and the monument to Diana, located on the Gran Vía in the same city, stand out. Although he enjoyed great prestige, as evidenced by the tribute of 1912, he often clashed with the official and academicist art of his time. He is considered a pre-modernist, as he was a teacher of modernist masters such as Llimona and Gargallo. He is represented in renowned collections, such as those of the following museums: the Fine Arts Museum of Bilbao, the Prado Museum, the National Art Museum of Catalonia and the Maritime Museum of Barcelona, and in museums in Paris, London, New York, etc.