Josep Guinovart

Who was Josep Guinovart?

Josep Guinovart was a Spanish Catalan painter most famous for his informalist or abstract expressionist work.

In 1941, he began to work as a decorator. Three years later, he started his studies at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios de la Llotja where he stayed until 1946.

He first exhibited his work in 1948 in Galerías Syla in Barcelona. In 1951, he produced his first engravings entitled 'Homage to Federico García Lorca'. Two years later, he was awarded a grant from the French Institute to study in Paris for nine months. Here he discovered the cubist works of Matisse and Picasso and travelled to Belgium, Holland and Germany.

On his return to Barcelona and after a period working as an illustrator and set designer, around 1957 he began moving towards abstract art. His work is highly unconventional and usually on a large scale, using a wide range of materials, three-dimensional objects and organic substances such as eggshell, earth and straw.

In 1962, he illustrated a book of poetry entitled 'Posies' by Joan Salvat-Papasseit for the Ariel Editorial. He won many accolades for his work throughout the 1970s and 80s.