Miguel Viladrich Vila, “Arab with Goat”, 1933, Oil on Canvas
Miguel Viladrich Vila was born in Torrelameu, Catalonia, Spain in 1887. In his early life, he studied architecture in Barcelona. Receiving a scholarship in 1907, Vila moved to Madrid and dedicated himself to painting. He traveled throughout Spain with sculptor Julio Antonio, sketching and painting gypsies and women wearing traditional costume. Vila went to Paris in 1909 and then onto Florence and Rome, studying the works of Botticelli and da Vinci. In 1910, Vila took part in Madrid’s National Exhibition of Fine Arts, entering his symbolist painting “My Funerals Presided Over by Death”.
Returning to Madrid, Vila frequented the New Cafe Levante, a gathering place for intellectuals, including the Spanish writer and dramatist Gomez de la Serna and painter Romero de Torres. In 1911, Vila produced his four painting series of “Gypsy of Seville”. Traveling with his friend and sculptor Julio Antonio, Vila met Catalan artist Anglada Camarasa, who helped both the artists with financial support. Villa exhibited works at the Annual Salon in Paris, selling works for the first time to Spanish and North American collectors.
Miguel Viladrich Vila travel as his reputation grew, throughout Spain, France, Italy and South America. While in Argentina he met Ana Morera, a painting teacher, whom he married in 1919. A trip to New York in 1926 resulted in the sale of thirty-six oil paintings to art patron Archer Milton Hutington, who established the first Hall of the Hispanic Society of America. In the decade of the 1930s, Vila traveled regularly to Morocco, painting a series of Moorish figures and tradesmen. He returned to Buenos Aires in 1940, where he remained until his death in 1956.
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