1838 -1874 · Reus, Rome, Morocco, Granada and Paris

Radiance of material, virtuoso drawing and cosmopolitan observation make Mariano Fortuny one of the most admired Spanish painters of the 19th century.

Marià Fortuny I Marsal, known as Mariano Fortuny, was born in Reus in 1838 and died in Rome in 1874, at just thirty-six years old. Orphaned at a very young age, he was raised by his grandfather, an artisan and sculptor, then studied at the Llotja School in Barcelona. A scholarship sent him to Rome in 1857. Responsible for documenting the Spanish-Moroccan war of 1859 -1860, he discovered in Tetouan a light, architecture, costumes and movements that transformed his art. His Moroccan watercolors, paintings and engravings are not simple workshop fantasies: they are based on direct observation, visible in the Acrobats in Tetouan or At the Door of the Seraglio. Fortuny also excels in spanish scenes, historical interiors, bullfighting episodes and studies carried out in Granada and the Alhambra. His extremely precise drawing, his brilliant touch and his ability to render fabrics, metal, dust and sun earned him immense international success, notably in Paris with the dealer Goupil. He also practices etching with exceptional freedom. The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya alone preserves nearly two thousand works by the artist, testimony to considerable production despite a very short career. His influence extends widely in Europe and America. The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya alone preserves nearly two thousand works by the artist, testimony to considerable production despite a very short career. His influence extends widely in Europe and America. The "Mariano Fortuny Marsal" selection notably features À la porte du seraglio and Acrobats in Tetouan, Morocco. His reading favors composition.

Fortuny makes the world sparkle without making it superficial: beneath the virtuosity remain observation, travel and the precision of drawing.